


Not everyone loves cops

by DefInitelyCanActuallyRead



Series: Hard Truths [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Don't expect too much, Gen, Like, even then i hope you can find at least a little bit of enjoyment from it, how do i tag without spoilers, how does that sound, i know this thing sucks, i'm not sure what the hell i'm doing writing zootopia fics, not saying this to get compliments, now that i look back on this i think its terrible, oh well i guess i just won't then
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-20 02:23:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7386856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefInitelyCanActuallyRead/pseuds/DefInitelyCanActuallyRead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Especially successful ones.</p><p>A truth that Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde were not expecting to hit them so hard. </p><p>A train accident, a new mysterious ally, and a new looming menace.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATED 19 OF JULY : Reworked chapter. No change of plot, made many needed improvements to the chapter's structure.

_“...Finally, former Zootopia mayor and criminal mastermind Dawn Bellwether, who had escaped from prison last Thursday, was once again apprehended yesterday evening, after she was spotted making her way out of the Zootopia Scientific Center.”_

“Cripes, what a nutcase.”  
“You said it, Bon.”

Stu and Bonnie Hopps were one of the most respected and influential Bunnyburrow farmers. Acres and acres of fields and gardening equipment, two hundred-seventy-five bunnies of various sizes running around, keeping the farm alive, having fun, or helping their parents in the field or with any chore that needed tending to around the farmhouse, and in the underground tunnels where all those little bunnies' rooms were dug.  
After three long hours of harvesting potatoes, Stu was busy cleaning the newly harvested produce in the kitchen sink, while Bonnie was resting her back from all the bending to pull the potatoes from the ground, in front of the TV, while their children were either napping, or being quiet in their rooms, respecting the peace and quiet of the 'Hopps Afternoon Siesta'.

“ _The ZPD unit responsible for her third arrest and incarceration in four months gave no further details regarding her activities at the ZSC._ ”  
“How does she keep slipping out like that...” Bonnie said.

Suddenly, she gasped, eyes wide.

“Look, honey, it's Judy!” she called for her husband.  
“Oh my goodness, Jude!” Stu said, looking up from the sink.  
“ _...We are still not sure what Dawn Bellwether was doing in the Center, but we assure all the citizens of Zootopia that the situation is under absolute control._ ”

Judy Hopps was indeed talking to the press. Their oldest daughter. The first ever police bunny police officer in Zootopia's history. In her sharpest police uniform with blue shirt, blue slacks, black tie, and shiny golden badge on her chest, on national TV.

“Oh, I'm so proud of you, Judy...” Bonnie said, sighing with pride.  
“Jude the dude, you never cease to amaze me,” Stu said, readjusting his cap on his head.  
“Come on, you guys, you don't need to sugarcoat it.”

Stu and Bonnie both gasped and turned around. Judy walked into the living room, dropping her bag near the doorway, a big smile on her face.

“Judy, my beautiful daughter!” Bonnie said, running into her for a hug, as Stu laughed the surprise off.  
“Hi mom, hi dad!” she said, hugging back.  
“Welcome home, Judy!” Stu said, walking up. “Did they finally give you a break?”  
“You know, Dad, Zootopia is pretty peaceful, even with Bellwether escaping again. Chief Bogo himself said that the city is calmer than it's ever been.”  
“That's because you do such a great job, Judy.” Bonnie said, putting her paws on Judy's cheeks. “We are so proud of you.”  
“You've accomplished so much!” Stu said, excitedly. “You saved Zootopia all on your own!”  
“Aw, come on, dad, I did not do it all on my own. I never could have if it wasn't for...”

Judy smirked. 

“...my amazing partner, that I would like you guys to finally meet.””  
“A partner? I thought you were the only bunny officer!” Bonnie said.  
“Oh, he's not a bunny.”

She turned and walked to the hallway.

“Nick! Come on! I'm waiting for you!”  
“Comin', Carrots!” someone replied.

Bonnie and Stu looked at each other. _Carrots_? They both turned to Judy, as a fox in police uniform appeared in the doorway.

“Mom and Dad, this is Nick Wilde, my partner. We saved Zootopia together.” Judy said, nudging Nick with her elbow.  
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Carrots.” Nick said, with a smile.  


Judy's parents remained silent. They were looking the fox up and down, mouths agape. While Bonnie seemed to overcome the shock pretty fast, Stu's face remained unchanging for a few more excruciatingly long seconds, after which he chuckled nervously.

“Well... I'll be darned... This is unexpected.” he said, rubbing his forehead.

Nick couldn't help but feel disappointment at the reaction, even if he expected it, but he hid it behind an expression of understanding. Judy decided to step in, and try to bring down the newfound tension in the room.

“Oh, come on, Dad, this isn't the first fox we welcome into our farm, is it?” Judy asked.

Bonnie nodded.

“She's right, honey.”  
“I know, I know...” he replied. He had forgotten about Gideon Gray. “Sorry about that, fella, welcome to the Hopps Family Farm!” he said, holding out his paw and smiling.

Nick could tell the smile was forced, but he pretended to roll with it.

“Thank you, sir.” he said, smiling back.  
“I'm Stu, and this is my wife Bonnie.”  
“Nice to meet both of you.” Nick said.

Judy smiled, proud of her parents and Nick's cooperative attitudes. She stretched.

“Aah, I could go for a nap. The ride was pretty tiring.” she said.  
“Me too, actually.” Nick said.  
“Well come on, it's sunny out, we have a couple hammocks in the field!” Judy said, grabbing Nick by the arm.  
“That sounds good.” he replied, letting himself get pulled out of the room by his enthusiastic partner. 

Bonnie turned to her husband. He was looking unusually glum.

“Stu...” she said, softly.

He sighed.

“Listen, Bon... Judy... means the world to me. She's my oldest daughter, and she's the first bunny police officer in the world. I'm so proud of her.”  
“Me too, Stu... But why are you so anxious? It's not like she's leaving us forever or anything. She actually just came back to us!”  
“With a fox, honey.”  
“Stu...”  
“We don't know him, he could--”  
“Stu, stop.” Bonnie cut.

Stu sighed, and turned to his wife.

“I don't want anything to happen to my daughter.”  
“Nothing bad will happen to her. She's strong, and determined. And he seems nice, too. And remember what she said? They saved Zootopia together. He's her ZPD partner.”

She put a paw on his shoulder.

“You can trust him. I do.” Bonnie said, smiling.

Stu tiredly smiled back, and they hugged. But as soon as his face was out of her sight, his smile faded.

 

In the backyard, Judy and Nick had laid on the hammocks, and were resting from a stressful week of searching for Bellwether. Nick had no problem falling asleep on a hammock that surprisingly managed to hold his weight, clearly superior to that of an average Hopps. But Judy... She couldn't rest. There was one nagging question. She kept thinking to herself that it wasn't that important, but she couldn't help thinking about it. She was looking up at the leaves of the trees the hammocks were attached to, as if they would give her the answer.

“Carrots?”

Judy turned. Nick was on his side, looking at her.

“You look like you have something on your mind. What's wrong?” he asked.

Judy looked back up at the leaves.

“It's nothing, don't worry about it.”  
“Judy, come on. I know worry when I see it.” he said. “Is it about your parents? Listen... I expected this from the very start... so, you know, there's really--”  
“No, it's not that...” Judy cut. “It's just... I really wanted to take care of the ZSC investigation.”  
“You heard Buffalo Butt. They got more than enough investigators already, you can afford to take a break. Do what I do. Chill out.” he said, laying on his back, and putting his paws behind his head.

Judy chuckled. She took a deep breath, and sighed. After a couple minutes, she spoke up.

“I just can't help but wonder what Bellwether is up to.”  
“Oh, is that what you're getting your carrot-printed panties in a twist about?"

He chuckled as Judy slowly turned to glare at him, but he ignored it.

“Don't worry about her. Every time she escapes, she makes it harder on herself. She won't be able to escape forever.”  
“But, Nick, think about it. She's already escaped three times, there has to be something she wants to do if she's so determined...”  
“So what if she does again? We'll only catch her every time. Besides, looking from criminals is exciting...” 

He yawned.

“...but also exhausting.”

Judy also yawned.

“You're right... I should just relax...”  
“...That's the spirit...”

Nick immediately started snoring again. Judy giggled.

“Dumb fox.”

When Judy and Nick woke up, Bonnie and Stu had prepared tea and homemade cookies. Nick was excited, he loved what Judy brought to Zootopia from her farm when she returned for some weekends, so he couldn't wait to try the cookies.

“Sho I shaid: 'Why don't you go and shee for yourshelf!'” Nick said, mouth full of cookies.  
“Um, Nick, maybe you should wait until those cookies go down.” Judy said.  
“Wha'? Oh, yesh, right...”  
“In the meantime...” Bonnie said, chuckling. “What's new for you, Judy?”  
“Did you get that promotion you told us about?” Stu asked.  
"Yep! Call us Detectives Hopps and Wilde!"  
“Goodness, I hope it isn't too dangerous!” Bonnie said, with a paw over her heart.  
“Oh it is. But we trust each other. We can't fail.” Nick said with a big smile, as they fist-bumped.  
“Boom.”

 

_“Try everything~...”_

“Oh, that's my phone, give me a sec.” Judy said, standing up, and walking out into the frontyard, leaving Nick with her parents. 

The three sat in silence. They seemed to look for something to say, but noone could say anything. Nick looked at Bonnie, who gave him the warmest smile she could manage. He then turned his gaze to Stu, who was much more closed up, staring at his paws on the table. Finally, Nick leaned on the table, sighing.

“Mr. Carrots... I understand how you feel. You don't fully trust me yet.”

Stu looked up. Nick smiled at him, then looked outside the window. Judy was still on the phone. Nick chuckled.

“Judy... Your daughter... She really is incredible. Ever since she was nine, as she told me.”

Nick turned back to face him. After a couple seconds of gazing into each other's eyes, Nick looked down at his paws.

“She turned my life around, you know. I used to live under a bridge near the remnants of an old, abandoned factory in the outer reaches of Downtown Zootopia. Making a living out of hustling... toying with animals' beliefs, emotions, even with their trust. I was a crook. A bandit. A sly, untrustworthy fox. Ever since I was a child, when the only mammal that bothered to trust me was my own mother. And I learned to simply not give a fluff what others would think. But then...”

He gestured towards the window.

“Judy came storming in. This itsy bitsy little bunny with starstruck dreams, far too big for anyone to consider her able to reach.”

He looked up.

“...Which is kind of unfair, too, isn't it? Has she ever told you what she had to go through at the academy?”

They both nodded, recalling back to Judy's rare MuzzleTime calls during which she would look exhausted and worn down, but never quitting.

“So you know how she conquered every obstacle that was thrown at her, which happen to include a fight with a fully-grown rhino, which she clocked out in record time.”

He laughed softly.

“She is incredibly determined. She managed to pull me out of the deepest pit in which I had thrown myself all those years ago. She managed to see past the facade that I had practically glued to my very soul. She even saved my life. And now, look at me...”

He pointed to his badge.

“I work for the ZPD. I live in a decent apartment, with proper shelter from wind and rain. And most importantly... people trust me. Remember what I said about how we trust each other? I had never thought how good trust would feel. I would never have even thought of getting where I am today without her. I don't think she'll ever comprehend how grateful I am.”

Nick went silent and looked back at Stu. The old rabbit was only staring back. Nick had always been good at reading people, but what he saw in Stu's eyes was undecipherable. The silent dialogue ended when Bonnie gently put a paw on her husband's shoulder. He turned towards her. 

"I trust him." she said.

When Stu looked back to Nick, the fox's ear flicked. That was a look he knew. A look he had been hoping for for the last few hours. A look that connected not two mammals, but two minds. He held out his paw, and Stu almost immediately grabbed it, and shook it.

Judy walked back into the room, sighing.

“It was Clawhauser, he-” she stopped.

She saw Nick and her father still in their pawshake. She looked at her mother, who nodded with a smile. Judy smiled back.

“Well, Carrots, what did Clawhauser say?” Nick asked, weirdly chipper.  
“We're needed at Zootopia tomorrow.”  
“What?” Stu said.  
“Already?” Bonnie continued.  
“I know. Not cool. But Clawhauser said it was important.”  
“Huh, I thought it was weird for Zootopia to be calm.” Nick said with a smug grin.  
“That's what Bogo said, don't give me that tone.” Judy mockingly scolded.

Bonnie looked at her watch.

“Oh my, look at the time, I have to make dinner!”  
“And I'll go set the waterworks.” Stu said. “You two just relax, you can't leave tired tomorrow, can you?”  
“Thanks Dad.”

He locked eyes with Nick, who winked. He winked back, then walked out of sight.

“We'll take the train at... 10:30 AM.” Judy said, checking her phone.  
“Did Clawhauser say anything else?”  
“Nope.”  
“Not even what it is we're needed for?”  
Judy blushed.  
“...I... forgot to ask?”

Nick laughed.

“Dumb bunny.”  
“Sly fox.”

 

*****

 

After a night of quiet smalltalk and not so much actual sleep, Judy and Nick were standing on the deck, talking to Judy's parents. 

“So, are you sure you have everything?”  
“Yes, Mom, don't worry, we barely had anyhing to unpack yesterday.”  
“I'd have liked you two to stay longer.” Stu said.  
“Me too, but what can I say? When duty calls...”  
“...You answer.” Nick finished.  
“What he said.” Judy said.  
“ _Zootopia Express, 5 minute stop._ ”

She turned to Nick.

“You ready?”  
“You know it.”

She turned to hug her parents.

“Love you guys.”  
“Stay safe, my beautiful daughter.”  
“Promise.”  
“Oh, you bunnies.” Nick said, shaking his head with a smirk.  
“Shush, you.” Judy scolded.

Nick shrugged, and made his way on the train, waving.

“Hop on, Hopps, you might miss it.” he said.  
“Bye you guys!”  
“Bye Judy! Bye Nick!”  
“Send us a text when you get there!”  
“I will! Bye!”

Judy stood by the train door after it closed, waving at her parents through the window. Nick watched with a smile. After they were out of sight, Judy walked up, and sat down in front of Nick. Suddenly, Judy remembered what she walked in on after her phonecall the day before.

“Nick?”  
“Hm?” Nick replied, absent-mindedly looking out of the window.  
“Yesterday... with my dad...”  
“Oh... yeah, that.”  
“...Is something wrong?”  
“There was, but not anymore, it's nothing you need to worry about.”  
“Nick...”  
Nick turned to face Judy. When he saw her worried expression, he raised his paws.  
“Hey, Carrots, don't look like you just heard Justin Beaver's newest stinking pile of garbage!”  
“Ugh, don't even remind me of that guy's existence.” she replied, mimicking a gag. “But seriously, what was it?”  
“Your dad had some trouble putting his trust in me. Turned out he only needed to know more about me, and a little more time.”

He paused.

“Everything's cool now. Relax.” he said, smiling and sitting back in his seat.

Judy felt somewhat relieved, then realized she was very tired. She sat back, and closed her eyes, deciding to take a nap. Nick observed her slowly drift off to sleep. He chuckled, and whispered to himself.

“Judy... You're too cute.”

 

Nick fell asleep without even noticing. It felt like he was still reading that newspaper just seconds ago, when he had been napping for the last half an hour, with Judy still fast asleep on the seat across from him. She had curled up in a little fuzzy gray ball leaning against the wall, and wrapped her arms around herself. Nick just found her too adorable not to do anything. He sat up, glanced around the train car, and seeing that the only other mammals aboard were either too far to see them, or facing the other way, he quietly got up, and sat down next to Judy, and wrapped an arm around her, leaning back on the seat. She began moving, and Nick felt bad for waking her up, but when she only shifted to lean against him, he felt like melting. She was so damn cute. 

Nick sat in silence for a good ten minutes, alternating between looking out the window, and observing the little fuzzball sleeping at his side, gently caressing the soft fur between her ears, with a smile that simply wouldn't leave his face. Eventually, she yawned, and sat up, stretching.

“Welcome back among the living, sleepyhead.” Nick said.

Judy jumped a bit, and Nick laughed softly.

“What, aren't you happy to have me as a pillow?” he asked.

She blushed.

“I... didn't notice.”

Nick clutched at his chest, mimicking a heart attack.

“Ugh... Carrots... Stop... being so... adorable...”

“Stop it...” she said, with a smile that was half amusement, half embarassment.

Zootopia finally came into view after one more hour of casual chatting about Gazelle's latest Snapcat post or what the job was going to be back with the ZPD. The big city looked so small from such a distance, which, Judy thought, made it all the more awe-inspiring work of modern architectural and societal art... Zootopia, where anyone could be anything. Where a rabbit became one of the most respected police officers. Where a deadly conspiracy had been secretly forming, only to be dismantled by that very same rabbit officer, and a shifty fox con-artist, who just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, and whose rise to public recognition was nothing short of spectacular. Zootopia... a dream come true.

But suddenly...

A nightmare.

Judy felt the world spin around. Out of control. Her ears were ringing. She couldn't make out anything her eyes were seeing. Her entire body was in pain. Then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, after you're had a chance to play. Er, read.
> 
> Thanks, and have fun.
> 
> Also CLIFFHANGERS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


	2. Chapter 2

_…_

_What was that?_

_…_

_Was that a voice?_

_…_

_Yes, I think so..._

_..._

_What is it saying?_

_…_

_I think it's saying my name..._

_…_

_How do I know that?_

_…_

_What IS my name?_

_…_

_Judy?_

_…_

_I think that's right. Judy. That's my name._

_…_

_But who is saying my name?_

_…_

_And where is it coming from?_

_...me on..._

_I think it's getting nearer..._

_...wake up..._

_I can make out what the voice is saying..._

_…please..._

_Who is that?_

_...Judy..._

_I know that voice... Nick?_

_…don't you dare let go..._

_That's right. That's Nick's voice._

_...Judy, please..._

_I like the sound of his voice._

_...don't do this to me..._

_But he sounds like he's in pain._

_...I beg you..._

_Pain..._

_...I love you..._

_Love?_

 

“Please... Judy... Don't let go...”

Nick's entire body was in pain. His nose was bleeding, and his leg was probably broken. But he didn't care. He was holding Judy's paw in his. His shirt was stained by his tears. He was scared, watching his best friend laying on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance, racing along the streets leading into Zootopia's Savannah Central. Several bloodstains were scattered all over her body. Her face was bruised. She was laying completely still, save from the shaking from the ambulance turning the many corners until the hospital. Until finally, her eyes began to quiver. Nick sat up, and gasped.

“Judy?”

She slowly opened her eyes. All she could see was blurry. She could see white, black, and a single spot of red, the shade of which looked familiar...

“...N... Nick...”

Seeing her in this horrendous, weakened state, but alive, caused Nick to feel so many different emotions at once, until eventually relief took over, as he burst into tears.

“Nick... It hurts... so much...” she said, as she closed her eyes.

He looked up.

“I know, Judy, it hurts, but stay strong! We're almost at the hospital!”

Nick got up, and went to knock on the window that seperated them from the drivers.

“You guys, she's awake, when are we getting there?”  
“We'll be there in a couple minutes, sir, please sit back down.”  
“Did you hear that, Carrots? A couple minutes!”  
“Nick...” 

He saw her slowly raising her paw, and he rushed to grab it.

“I got you, Carrots, hang in there.”

She reopened her tired eyes. She could manage to see a little bit more than just one big blur, and so she could make out her friend's worried expression. She smiled a weak smile.

“Thank you... Nick...”

Then her smile faded, as she closed her eyes. Nick's eyes widened in panic, then looked at the heart rate monitor, which was still beeping at a steady rate. He looked back at Judy, and squeezed her paw, careful not to hurt her.

“I got you.”

 

The ambulance skidded to a stop, and a couple seconds later, the doors swung open, and Nick jumped out, as an armadillo and two antelopes dressed in white coats pulled the stretcher out of the ambulance, and rushed into the Zootopia Central Hospital.

“Situation unstable, gains and losses of consciousness, heavy bloodloss, prepare transfusions.”

Nick ran along with the hospital staff, even with his aching knee, and kept repeating 'You'll be fine' and 'Hang in there', until they reached the operating theater, and the stretcher stopped, as the armadillo turned to Nick.

“Sir, I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave this to us.”

Nick took a deep but short, panicked breath.

“Okay.”

A nurse walked up, and noticed Nick slightly limping as she took him to the waiting room.

“Sir, do you need treatment for your leg?”  
“No, I'll be fine...”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, thank you...”

They arrived at a large room, with chairs scattered along the walls.

“Sir, please wait here, we'll bring you information on your friend as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, ma'am.”

 

Half an hour later, Nick was still sitting in the waiting room, constantly checking the clock, his phone, his surroundings, the clock, his phone... He regularly stood up, and tried to walk around, but every time, his knee sent him crashing back down on the chairs.

“Mr Wilde?”

He turned to the source of the voice, getting ready to get up. The armadillo from the ambulance walked up.

“Is she okay?”

The armadillo smiled, and nodded.

“Her situation is stable. She's awake, and she's asked to see you.”

Nick let go a huge sigh of relief.

“Where is she?”  
“Follow me.”

After a few minutes, they arrived at her room, and as soon as the armadillo opened the door, Nick took a deep breath. Judy was awake, alive and... not that well. Bruised and tired. But she was alive. He ran up to her bed, and wrapped his arms around her, careful not to squeeze her. The doctor smiled, and left, closing the door behind him.

“Judy... I was so worried...” he said, as he gave in, and started sobbing.  
“I know, Nick... I'm sorry...”

At that, Nick perked up.

“No, don't you dare apologize, you didn't do anything wrong... stupid bunny...”

Judy smiled.

“Your stupid bunny.” she said, slowly wrapping her own arms around the big sappy fox staining her white hospital shirt.

 

As Judy and Nick were casually chatting, having overcome the initial shock and worry, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Judy said.

The door opened, and Chief Bogo walked into the room.

“Hopps. Wilde.”  
“Sir!” Judy said, bringing her paw to her forehead in a salute.  
“Don't waste your energy, Hopps.”

She blushed, and Nick chuckled. Bogo sighed, and knelt to bring his towering figure (at least closer) to Nick and Judy's level.

“How are you two feeling.” he asked.  
“Well, to put it lightly, we both almost died in a fiery explosion. But I think we're getting by pretty smoothly.” Nick said with a smirk.

Judy giggled at Nick's impressively quick switch in moods.

“My leg feels like a rhino stomped on it, and I can't feel my nose.” he continued.  
“What about you, Hopps?” Bogo asked.  
“Let's just say I've felt a lot better. My whole body aches, I feel a little bit dizzy, and I'm hungry.”

Nick sat up in his chair, remembering an important question.

“Chief, do you know what happened?”

Bogo remained silent for a second, then spoke up.

“I can't say for sure.”  
“Why?” Judy pressed on.

Bogo sighed.

“The car on the train you two were found in exploded. We do know the cause was a bomb, considering some particular debris found on the scene, however we still don't know whether it was planted on the tracks or on the train.”  
“Why would it matter whether the bomb was on the train or on the tracks?” Nick asked.  
“Because, if it was on the tracks, unless the instigators were really organized and precise, this would be a terror attack, with no specific target in mind, except for everyone aboard the train. Then again it is very unlikely. A terror attack would have targeted a Zootopia central line, and an attack on the rabbit species wouldn't have targeted a half empty train anyway. Which would mean...”

It struck Judy, who gasped, while Nick just looked as confused as ever.

“What? What would it mean?” he asked.  
“It would mean you two were victims of an assassination attempt.”

The room fell into a heavy silence. Judy has covered her mouth with her paws, and Nick just sat still, eyes wide. Bogo waited patiently until the two were responsive again, which was when Nick finally managed to express his thoughts.

“Holy **fuck**.”  
“I need you two on the move ASAP.” Bogo said.  
“Give us three days.” Nick immediately said.  
“Two.” Judy corrected.

He turned, surprised.

“I'm tougher than I look, you know. Come on, Nick, it's not like you to stereotype me.” she said, smirking.

Bogo cleared his throat, as he stood.

“Excellent. Fourty-eight hours, during which I recommend you keep a low profile.”

He turned to leave.

“Rest yourself well, Detectives. Stay safe.”  
“Thank you, Sir.” Judy said.

When Bogo had left, Nick turned to Judy, whose smirk had faded.

“Carrots...”  
“Oh!” she jumped. “Yes?”  
“Whoa, Carrots, you're jumpier than usual.”  
“Oh, I wonder why.”

Her meek attempt at humor failed when even she didn't feel like laughing. Nick took a deep breath, and grabbed her paws.

“Listen to me, Judy.”

She locked eyes with him. She had almost forgotten how pretty his shiny emerald green eyes looked.

“Someone out there wants us dead. But you know what?”

He paused, and smiled, while furrowing his eyebrows, looking as determined as ever.

"They'll never get us. We will outrun them. If anything, we'll be so far ahead, we'll be the ones to catch up to them.”

He shook her paws with every word:  
“ _They will not get us_.”

She smiled.

“And I need you to do this with me.”

He let go of her paws, and balled his paw into a fist.

“Are you with me?”

She brought up her own.

“Always.”

Bump.

“Boom.”

Silence. Nick blinked.

“...Not 'boom'. Something else... uh, pow?”

She laughed. 

“Don't bother, it's over. You had your chance.”  
“Dammit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoowhee. This is going to be a wild ride.


	3. Chapter 3

After more check-ups than Judy expected to be possible in a single night, Judy slowly made her way out of the hospital. Her body was covered in bandages. The close to non-existant rest she was able to get sufficed to make her feel at least somewhat better than the 'oh my god just kill me already' feeling that had dominated her entire evening, before slowly shifting to 'holy shit I could've died but I'm still here', and then to 'who cares if I almost died, let's do this'. Except now she was more feeling like 'just please let me sleep'. As she spotted Nick waiting for her near the parking lot, however, her mood brightened up a bit.

“Hey there.” Nick said with a warm smile.

She walked into Nick for a hug.

“Hi, Nick...” she said, tiredly, but smiling.

He wanted to joke about how she wasn't as chipper as usual, but decided against it. He was pretty sure this little bunny could still deliver a mean punch, even when she was this tired.

“How are you feeling?”  
“Ugh, I just want to go home and lay in bed.” she said. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that hospital was?”  
“I hear ya, Whiskers. The place also stank of cough syrup and bleached labcoats.”  
“That's what you smelled?”  
“Yeah, what did you smell?”  
“I don't know, it mostly just reeked of hospital.” she said with a scrunch.  
“I get the feeling they don't try to keep people in there for very long.”  
“I'm glad to be out of there, though.”

Nick chuckled.

“Come on, hop in.” he said, walking up to his car.

“Hop in?” Judy asked.  
“Yeah. Why?”  
“I thought I'd just take the bus home, and--”  
“Nuh-uh, honey bunny, that ain't happening.”

Judy's eyebrows shot two to three centimeters higher, as she wondered if she heard right. 

“...What?”  
“You are not going home alone in the state you're in.”

She did hear him right the first time.

“Nick, I'm fine.”  
“I'm not letting you.”  
“Niiick.”  
“Nope. No debating. I'm driving you home, whether you like it or not.”

He paused. 

“Even though I'm pretty sure you'll appreciate it.”

Judy sighed, and smiled.

“Fine, you dumb fox, you win. But I have terms.”  
“Fire away. Ain't changing my mind. An acquaintance of mine taught me to be determined.”  
“That acquaintance doesn't seem like someone I'd want to hang out with.” Judy said, smirking.  
“Yeah, she's a bit of an obnoxious loudmouth.” he said with a toothy grin.

They both softly laughed.

“So, what're your terms?”  
“You let me choose the music.”  
“Deal. I can cope with a little mainstream horsedung from time to time.”

 

The car ride to Judy's apartment revealed itself to be way more painful than Nick expected. He tried his best to block out the music the car radio was playing at a ridiculous volume and Judy singing along, even though he found her singing voice not to be that bad. She could not sit still in her seat. She was bouncing up and down, in sync with the newest Hyena Gomez song, having an absolute blast. He knew that part of the enjoyment she found in the music was how she knew he hated it. After a while, he huffed, and turned the radio off.

“Forget I said it. I can NOT cope with the mainstream horsedung you call 'music'”.  
“Come on, Nick, what about that acquaintance of yours? What would she say?”  
“I don't know and I wouldn't care anyway.”  
“No fair, Slick. A deal's a deal.”

He sighed, and as he stopped to a red light, he slowly turned to Judy, who was wearing the smuggest, sassiest smirk/half-lidded stare combo he had ever seen on her face. He could almost see himself in that face. He felt somewhat proud, because he knew that only he could have taught her this well.

“Can I just make a request, then?” he asked.  
“Hmm...” she took on a pose of exaggerated pensiveness, tapping a finger against her chin. “Very well. One request.”  
“Try Everything.”  
“Gazelle?” Judy asked, slightly surprised.  
“Yeah, I hope you don't think I would've gone to that concert with you if I didn't enjoy her cheesy music at least a little bit.”  
“...And also because of those hips.”

Nick brought a paw up.

“Guilty.”

Judy mimicked him by raising one of her own.

“As charged.”

They both went quiet as Gazelle's world-smash hit started playing, then started singing along.

 

It was almost with comedic timing that the song ended as soon as Nick parked in front of Judy's apartment building.

“Here we are.”  
“Thanks for the lift, Nick. You were right, you sly fox, you. This was actually a lot of fun.”

Nick smiled, and unbuckled his seatbelt. As he prepared to get out, Judy lifted her eyebrows.

“Where are you going?” she asked.  
“I'm taking you to your apartment.”

She frowned.

“Nick. I'm fine.”  
“Tut tut tut!” he said, turning away, eyes closed, bringing up a paw with his index finger pointed upwards. “Not hearing it.”

She sighed.

“Nick...”  
“Tut.”  
“Ugh.”  
“That's the spirit.” he said, turning back to Judy with his signature smirk. “Come on.”

 

Climbing the stairs to her apartment on the fifth floor turned out to be more of an ordeal for Nick than Judy. She was practically strutting up the steps, while Nick had to pause at every floor, complaining about his aching knee. 

“Couldn't you get a room on a lower floor?”  
“I didn't exactly choose the fifth floor. But it makes for a good workout routine.”  
“Workout shmorkout. Who needs it when you have a body like this!” he said, striking a pose, straining his knee. “Ow.”  
“I'm so impressed.” Judy said with a giggle. “Come on.”

As she began climbing up even more sets of stairs, Nick wondered why he decided to be this generous when even the person he was 'helping' made it sufficiently clear that he didn't have to be. Heck, she was getting by those stairs better than him. 

 

When he finally made it to the fifth floor, Judy was leaned against the wall.

“What took you so long, Slick Nick? I thought foxes were at least somewhat fast.” she said with a grin.  
“I feel like biting my leg off. Might hurt less than this.” he said, rubbing his aching joint.  
“Oh my, sounds serious.” she said, rolling her eyes and walking down the hallway towards her room.

As Nick joined her at her doorstep, he noticed the mat lying in front of the door. 'Welcome', spelled entirely with carrots. He was pulled out of his reflexion on the best joke to make about the mat by the sounds of muffled shouting. He raised an inquisitive brow at Judy, who didn't even need to turn to him to know exactly what he was about to ask.

“Nick, meet Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson. My neighbors.”

Nick's eyes widened. She turned, and smiled at his confused expression.

“You get used to it after a while.”

Nick shook his head.

“How long have you been living here, next to these nutheads?”  
“It's really not that bad.” she said, as she slid her key into her door.

She pushed the door open, and walked towards her bed, as Nick started looking around.

Judy had made a few improvements to her tiny room. The walls seemed cleaner. She had bought a new bed, a small TV screen, a DVD player (though he couldn't see any DVDs), a wardrobe, and a sofa, which he decided to go crash into. When he laid down, he sighed in relief, feeling his entire body relax, after climbing five exhausting floors. Judy smiled.

“Well look at you. The big strong fox, exhausted after five little sets of stairs.”  
“You shush and c'm'ere.” Nick replied.

Judy hurried over, and snuggled up at Nick's side, as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey, Carrots.” Nick asked, quietly.  
“Hm?”  
“What do you say we never move ever again.”  
“Sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up sappier than I thought. But I couldn't help it. I love these characters so much. And also shorter. Sorry about that.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick and Judy were just staring at each other. Not moving. Not even seeming to breathe. Only occasionally and sporadically blinking. Judy was trying her best to suppress her immense smile, and to keep her ears steady, looking just as dead inside as her opponent. She had first mentally facepawed when she remembered she had just challenged a crook master at a game he had possibly learned all the rules to when she was still trying to ride a bicycle without the two small wheels. But even the hardest wall has to fall. They had been playing for a while now, and Judy had started detecting in Nick the faintest signs of unease... Very slight twitches of his black nose, slightly deeper breaths, while still looking just like how an undertaker would have to look. 

After what felt like hours of silence and seemingly invisible body language, Judy's face twisted into an expression that was a mix of overflowing confidence, happiness, and knowledge that she would be able to rub this in Nick's face for weeks. She slammed her cards on the floor.

“Aces full of Kings! Beat that, Poker Face!”

She was grinning so wide that all of her teeth were visible. 

But Nick did not budge. 

There was only silence.

Judy started getting nervous, but didn't show it. She wouldn't allow it. Why has there still not been a reaction? He could NOT possibly win this one. What were the odds? 

Eventually, the silence was broken in a way that Judy did not expect. Nick blew a raspberry as he laid his cards on the ground. Judy instantly froze in place, eyes as wide as saucers. Her pinpricked pupils dashed from every card he had just put down to the next... Ten of diamonds... Jack of diamonds... Queen of diamonds...

“Royal.”

Her eyes darted straight to his. 

_No._

She knew what was coming.

_Please don't._

He smirked.

_DON'T._

Until finally.

…

…

…

“I win.”

 

“Hey Pronk, where'd you hide my boxers.”  
“Didn't even want to touch those things.”  
“Dude, seriously, not cool, was my last pair, where is it?”  
“Maybe if you stopped being so damn lazy and actually went to do that laundry, you would be fine!”  
“Shu--”  
Bucky was cut off as the wall shook, an absolutely horrible roar coming through it. The two stared at each other in a mix of fear and confusion.  
“...Did she bring a fucking lion?”

 

Judy was livid. She was lying face down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow after her monumental vocal performance. 

She was a very. Very. VERY sore loser.

Nick was walking around the room, gathering the cards Judy had sent flying all over the place, smiling and trying not to laugh loud enough for Judy to hear. Which was difficult, with her being a bunny, and all.

“Keep laughing, and I'll make sure those fifty-two cards spend the next fourty-eight hours in your digestive system.” she said through her pillow. 

All Nick heard was muffled angry mumbling, but he was pretty sure he knew at least what she wanted to tell him. (he had no idea it would involve the world's probably most peculiar meals of his life)

“I'm sorry, Carrots, that my emotions were too well hidden behind my astoundingly good looks for you to notice anything.” 

He glanced around the room, checking for any remaining cards he'd missed, then looked at the deck of cards in his paws.

“Someone will have to recount those cards, too. I'm pretty sure some of them went missing.”  
“Not my fucking problem.”

This time, Nick was certain of what he heard through the pillow, causing him to snort.

“Now, now, Judith Laverne Hopps, watch your--”

He was cut off as a gray blur zoomed out of the bed straight towards him and pulled him down by the tie, ending up nose-to-nose with a very familiar looking bunny, although he had never seen such a deeply crimson red color on a gray-furred animal. Nick's eyes widened as he dropped the deck of cards, which spread all over the floor. He knew his jokes were bound to get on someone's nerves enough for them to tell him to stuff most unpleasant objects in even more unpleasant locations. He also knew that sometimes, people hated being called their full name. But he had never, never in his whole life, made someone so angry using nothing but words that they seemed to want to kill him where he was standing in the most brutally creative ways. 

They just stared into each other's eyes, in silence, except for Judy breathing hard through clenched teeth. Nick tried to take a step back. She was really scary, even for an animal her size. But she held him in place by the tie with a steel grip. Damn, those arms were powerful.  
He wasn't sure what to do. Any small mistake could result in him getting thrown out the door, or worse, out the window. He decided to wait it out. She had to calm down eventually. But after thirty long seconds, the room's only sound remained Judy's breathing through her teeth. Her jaw didn't seem to be getting any weaker. He was getting slightly scared, and decided to act. Maybe five floors isn't that bad. 

Who was he kidding. _He would die._

He swallowed hard, and slowly raised his paws.

“...Ca... Carrots?” he stuttered.

She blew air out of her nose, startling him.

“O-okay, then Judy!” he quickly said, more nervous than ever. _Man, she's scary._

Her eyes shifted from one of his eyes to the other, repeatedly, for a second. Nick took it she was expecting him to talk more.

“Judy, look, I'm sorry for laughing, for calling you...”

He paused to swallow.

“...something that you hate, now please let go, you're scaring me.”

She seemed to finally register something in Nick's gaze, then seemed to relax, like the words ' _Chill out_ ' were engraved on his eyeballs. Her ears drooped, as she let go of Nick's tie, who immediately took a couple steps back, eyes wide. 

“...Judy?” 

And then she collapsed, and started to cry.

 

Nick was very confused. One second he was staring death in the face, the next, death had fallen to her knees and begun to sob uncontrollably. When he finally gathered his thoughts, he shook his head vigorously and slowly walked up to Judy, and sat next to her.

“Hey...”

No answer. Just more sobbing.

“Come here.”

He extended his arms and wrapped them around her shoulders and his tail around her waist. 

“Shh... It's okay...”

 

A couple minutes went by, with Judy's crying slowly decreasing in intensity, and Nick patiently waiting for her to calm down, with his arms wrapped around her. When the crying had faded, Judy was taking deep breaths, eyes sore, and sweater stained. Nick felt like enough time had gone by to be able to talk without taking a one-way ticket to the pavement, so he took a deep breath, rubbed her back, and spoke up, his voice calm and soft.

“Judy?”

She slowly opened her eyes, and looked up at Nick, eyes reddened and swollen, still wet with tears.

“Judy... I feel really bad.”

She blinked.

“...Why?” she asked, voice raspy and weak.

“For putting you in such a state.”

She stared at him, seemingly not even knowing what he was talking about.

“It's my fault that you got so angry... And I'm sorry.”  
“Nick...”

He sighed.

“I'm sorry, Judy.”  
“Nick... I'm sorry.” Judy said, putting a paw on his arm.

Now Nick was the one blinking in confusion.

“What? What did you...”  
“Nick.”

He stopped.

“It has been a very, very stressful last twenty-four hours.” she said. “I barely got enough sleep last night, the neighbors woke me from my nap...”  
“Sorry about that, rabbit.” a voice said through the wall.  
“Dude, shut up!” another replied, seemingly trying to be quieter than the first one.  
“What? I was only--”  
“ _Shut. The fuck. Up._ Didn't you hear anything of what they said?” the second voice cut.

The two voices faded. They must have started whispering for the first time in literally forever. _Way to kill the mood_ , Nick thought. Judy sighed, and continued.

“...and then I thought I was gonna finally beat you at poker...”

She smiled, and when Nick saw it, he smiled back as he took another deep breath, relieved.

“And any other day, I could have managed your jokes... Maybe not the full name...”

Nick's eyebrows twitched upwards in a _'well, that's true'_ kind of way.

“...but I never thought I'd snap at you that hard... and I'm sorry.”

Nick rubbed her back.

“Judy... I'm not sure why you're apologizing to me because I tipped you over the edge.”  
“But it's not your fault I'm a sore loser...” she said, lowering her head, seeming on the verge of tears again.  
“But it is that you did get so angry. I should've kept my giant gob shut, when I knew you were not in a state to be pushed around.”

He gently tapped her face with a finger, to direct her attention to him. He lowered his muzzle, eyes still locked with hers.

“I'm more sorry.”

She finally let out a small chuckle, and wrapped her arms around his chest.

“...Fine, then, you big dumb fox... apology accepted.”

They hugged, sitting on the floor of Judy's apartment, surrounded by playing cards.

 

“Hey Carrots.”  
“That nickname again.”  
“You know you love it.”  
“Meh.”  
“We'll find out who did this to us.”  
“Only if we do it together.”  
“Always, Partner.”

 

“ _'Carrots'_?” Bucky said.  
“Yeah, bunnies like carrots.” Pronk replied.  
“I know that! But why is he calling her Carrots? Is it, like, some sort of weird food fetish?”  
“Dude, he's a fucking _fox_! They don't eat carrots.”  
“Some preds do!”  
“Oh shut up with your stupid internet Turtl trends!”  
“You shut up!”  
“You shut up!”  
“ _ **SHUT UP!**_ ” came two voices through the wall, causing them both to jump.

A second of silence.

Then laughing.

“Dude, I think they're mocking us.”  
“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to dig this friendly neighbor feud.
> 
> also i have no idea how poker works can you tell


	5. Chapter 5

“...Fourty-seven, fourty-eight, fourty-nine.” Nick finished counting the cards. “Yep. We're missing three cards.” 

After the poker incident, Judy went to try to rest on her bed, but that was soon cut short as more arguing had come through the wall. Then she got curious on other types of card games she and Nick could try out, so she had grabbed her phone (which miraculously still worked, although it did get a little beaten up) to Zoogle some, and Nick had decided to re-count those cards, and now that it was done, decided to sort them.

“I'll buy you a new set if you promise not to cry.”  
“I don't think you understand, I'm heartbroken. I cared for those three slightly tougher pieces of paper.”  
“They'll have different pictures of me on every one.”

There was a short pause.

“...With less and less clothes as the numbers go up, I dare hope.”  
“You're such an idiot.”  
“Is it even possible?”  
“What is?”  
“To design a deck like that.”  
“Surely. There's plenty of people out there who play poker, I'm sure there's at least one that knows how to handle that kind of stuff.”

Nick was about to reply, but there was a knock at the door, then the quiet sound of paper sliding on wood, followed by footsteps, moving down the hallway, until all went quiet again. Judy and Nick both glanced towards the door. A small envelope was lying near it. Nick walked over to it, and bent down to pick it up.

“What does it say?” Judy asked, quietly.

Nick didn't answer immediately.

“...It says ' _Not everyone loves cops_ '.”

He walked up to the bed and sat next to Judy. He flipped it over, but there was absolutely nothing written on the yellowish envelope aside from the cryptic phrase. Nick ripped it open, and pulled out a single small piece of paper:

 

_Meet me at the Great Glacier, tomorrow at 20 P.M.  
Make sure you're not followed._

_Miss Hopps, Mister Wilde, I'm here to help._

_-A friend._

 

Nick read the message over a few times, still not believing what he was reading. A rendezvous from a stranger at the most chic and distinguished restaurant in Tundratown?

“Nick... What do we do?”

He turned to Judy.

“I... I don't know.”

He looked back down at the message. Judy grabbed her phone.

“I'll call Bogo. He'll--”

Nick grabbed her arm.

“No, Carrots, wait.”  
“We need to tell Bogo! He has to know something we can--”  
“No, Judy. Look, it says 'Make sure you're not followed'.”  
“So what? You're gonna obey to someone--”  
“Someone who has your address, someone who knows I'm here, someone who left us a message telling us to meet them at a very expensive and influential restaurant and that they're here to help?”  
“Well? Are you?”  
“Yes! They're 'here to help'!”  
“Nick, think about it! That's exactly what anyone would say, even if they did want to hurt us! Or it could just be a prank!”  
“Judy, listen to me, if this person wanted to hurt us, they wouldn't have just left us a note, but rather waited to one of us to go open that door and try to kill us then!”

Judy stopped. He had a point.

“Plus, the Great Glacier is right in the Tundratown center. They'd have to be crazy if they want to try anything a busy Friday evening.”  
“But Nick, they blew up a whole train! They're obviously not scared of collateral damage.”  
“But even then, noone is crazy enough to launch a second attack in three days! They were careful and discrete enough to plant a bomb on the train without getting detected, so they obviously know what they're doing, at least to some extent.”

He realized what he said a second after the words left his mouth, seeing Judy's distraught expression slightly worsen.

“...which means that they would also wait until things calmed down. And by then, this mystery person will have helped us.”

He paused.

“...I hope.”

He put his paws on Judy's shoulders.

“We'll be fine, Judy. Trust me.”

Suddenly, Judy's phone rang. She grabbed it. _Mom and Dad would like to MuzzleTime_. She took a deep breath, and answered.

“Hey guys--”  
“ _Oh, sweet heavens above, Judy, there you are!_ ” Bonnie immediately cut her off. She had a paw over her heart. “ _Where's Nick? Is he also safe?_ ”

Judy turned the phone, and Nick appeared on her parents' screen, giving a small wave.

“Hello.” he said.  
“ _Oh thank the sky, you're both safe! I tried to call as soon as I saw it on the news..._ ”  
“ _Let me tell ya, Jude, your mother would not stop trying to call you, I had to stop her from getting up and calling you in the middle of the night!_ ” Stu cut in. “ _And before you call me insensitive..._ ” he winked, and Judy and Nick both nodded understandingly, “ _we called the precinct when you didn't answer in seventeen tries, and we spoke to Bogo, he told us you two were already safe in the hospital, and that we should wait until this morning to try to contact you again._ ”  
“ _Are you doing alright?_ ” Bonnie asked.  
“Yes, we're fine. Obviously a little shaken up, but we're fine.” Judy replied. “We took a couple days off to try and get some rest.”  
“Which has not met much success.” Nick said, half-jokingly.  
“ _You do look tired, my poor dears._ ” Bonnie said, with compassion.

After a short comfortable pause, Stu cleared his throat.

“ _Alright, you two, now that we know you're safe, we're gonna let you take a nap._ ” If he only knew how they both wished it was that easy.  
“Okay. We'll call you tomorrow.” Judy said.  
“ _Please stay safe, my beautiful daughter! You too, Nick!_ ”  
“I'll make sure to remember to do that, Mrs. Carrots.”  
“Thank you guys. Love you.”  
“ _Love you too, Judy. Bye._ ”

As soon as the call ended, Judy took another deep breath, and collapsed on her bed, as tired as ever. And Nick had had just about enough of seeing her in that state. 

“I'm gonna go buy you some carrot cake.” he said, calmly but firmly, walking towards the door. “Back in five minutes.”

She tried to lift her head and protest against him spending his money on her just because she was a bit tired.

Okay, she was very tired.

…

And carrot cake didn't sound that bad, anyway. So she gave up and only said:

“Okay.”

Nick chuckled as he closed the door behind him.

 

Wolford and Howlitz were bored. They had run out of every knock-knock joke they knew, and all casual conversation. Wolford yawned for the 'who-kept-count'th time. He had gotten bored of counting the yellow cars ages ago. 

“I can not believe how fucking BORING this job can get.” he said.  
“I don't know, man, this is kinda cool. It means I won't have a hurty back from paperwork, or hurty feet from patrolling.”  
“Nah, instead you'll get a hurty ass from sitting on it so much.”  
“Maybe I like that.”

Wolford slowly turned to his 'partner-in-sitting', who laughed.

“You should see your face!” Howlitz said between two breaths.  
“You're fucking weird.”

There was a pause, that felt like hours for Wolford. Then again, they had been parked there for the whole morning. 

“I'm so BORED!” he finally said, bumping his forehead against the steering wheel.  
“Dude, that reminds me, imagine what Hopps was going through before she got that Otterton case.”  
“Ugh, don't even remind me, parking duty is the worst. You do the most useless job on the force, AND you get yelled at by everyone.”  
“Yeah, and if you don't get yelled at enough, you get yelled at by Big Buffalo Bill because that means you didn't do enough work. Happened to me once. Sucked.”  
“And what was she going to do about it? She's so small and fuzzy and cute, there's no way anyone would take her seriously.”  
“I know! Remember when Fangmeyer got parking duty?”  
“Oh yeah, back when he didn't benchpress yet?”  
“Remember his face when he got back to the precinct?”  
“Oh my god, dude, he looked like he was sat on by five different elephants!”

They both laughed hysterically. It took Howlitz a full minute to be able to formulate an entire comprehensible sentence.

“Parking duty sucks.” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.  
“But then again, who comes back to their car after the two hours?”  
“Barely anyone.”  
“Precisely.”

Just at that moment, Wolford perked up, and nugded his partner.

“Dude, ten o'clock, Wilde is leaving the building. He's alone.”

They watched as Nick walked past his car, and made his way to the coffee shop a couple buildings away.

“Looks like they ain't wanting to go anywhere today.” Howlitz said.

He took out his phone.

“I'm gonna report that to Bogo. I think he'd find that important.”  
“Why would he find the fact that Wilde and Hopps are getting coffee important?” Wolford asked with a frown.  
“It shows that they're gonna be there for a while, and are not likely to leave the apartment anytime soon.”  
“I bet you a dollar he won't give a shit.”  
“On.”

 

*beep*

“ _Chief Bogo?_ ”  
“What is it, Clawhauser.”  
“ _Call from Officers Wolford and Howlitz!_ ”  
“Forward it.”  
“ _Yes sir!_ ”

*beep*

“Officers, report.”  
“ _Sir, we have seen Wilde go for coffee at the Snarlbucks on Shepherd Avenue._ ”  
“...Good.”  
“ _Sir?_ ”  
“It seems they have finally decided to follow instructions.”

Bogo thought he heard quiet mumbling in the background.

“ _Which were, sir?_ ”  
“No lollygaggin', Howlitz.” 

Bogo could hear Howlitz's giant smile.

“ _Yes sir. Howlitz and Wolford, out._ ”

That day, Bogo had unknowingly made a wolf one dollar poorer, and another one dollar richer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not even sure how I'm managing to dish out those I-find-to-be-not-even-that-bad chapters.
> 
> Please let me know what you think, any criticism is welcome! (plz keep it civilized doe)


	6. Chapter 6

Judy set her plate aside, and put her paws behind her head, looking up at the ceiling, laying in her bed. She took a contented deep breath.

“Feeling better? Nick asked, lifting his head from the sofa to look at her.  
“Hm.” she licked her lips to get the few straggling bits of cake around her mouth. “That was the best non-Hopps carrot cake I've ever tasted.”  
“You don't go to Snarlbucks often, do you.”  
“Not really.”

She glanced at Nick.

“Thank you, by the way.”  
“Don't mention it. I know I'm awesome.”  
“That reminds me, how's your knee?”  
“Feels brand new.” 

He extended his leg, and popped his joint, as Judy made a face of minor disgust.

“Ooh, that's good.”

She shook her head, and propped herself up on her elbows.

“Anyway, I've been re-thinking about the message, and that made me realize we need to find ourselves proper classy outfits for tomorrow.”

Nick perked up and lifted his head to stare at her, looking rather surprised.

“...What?” she asked. “It's the Great Glacier. It's really fancy, and stuff.”  
“So you're going with it?”  
“Well, it's not like I'll have much of a choice.”

She grinned.

“Besides, I can't let you go there on your own. You might get yourself hurt.”  
“Too soon, Carrots.”

He got up, and stretched.

“Well, any leads, Detective Hopps?”  
“Well, I was thinking Coco Camel.”  
“Do they have any hawaiian shirts there?”  
“Even if they did, I wouldn't let you.”  
“Does Camel even make suits for males?”  
“If they don't, there's Hugoat Boss.”  
“Ooh, but everything they make costs an eye!”  
“Don't make me remind you you used to make two hundred bucks a day, all the while living under a bridge.”  
“Point taken.”  
“Perfect!” she said, getting up. “Let's go.”  
“...Right now?”  
“Right now.”

 

“...So the mouse says ' _Yeah, but I was sick!_ ', and the rat--”  
“Dude, shush, they're on the move.”

 

Judy was walking excitedly down the dress aisles, inspecting every single dress, shrug, shawl, jacket, blazer... (“Which one of these would I look best in?”), while Nick had already picked out a tuxedo his size, white shirt and black bow tie. He didn't care much for shopping. (“Which one of these is the black one.”) He saw that Judy was going to take a while to decide on a single dress, and decided to head to the fitting room. 

“Oh, women and their dresses.” he whispered to himself.

When he was finally done tying the bow with a little help from an employee who he found just obnoxious enough to be cool (“You look absolutely dashing, baby, you have such a good eye for this kind of stuff!”), he walked out of his small changing room, and called for Judy. 

“I'm in here, hang on!” she replied from behind the curtain directly at his left.  
“Well, you certainly were quick to choose.”  
“You'll see, I spotted this dress, and I knew that it was the one!”

After a few seconds of readjusting his bow tie in a mirror, Nick heard the curtain slide open, so he turned.

“Ta-dah!” Judy exclaimed, striking a pose.

Nick hadn't seen Judy in many different types of outfits over the course of the last year, aside from the obvious uniform, flannel/jeans combos farmers were usually pictured in, and occasional T-shirts. But he had never had (dare he think) the chance of seeing her in such a pretty and elegant dress that really expressed how beautiful he knew she could be. 

She had chosen a long, simple dark blue dress, that began at her chest, the color getting darker as Nick's eyes moved down. There was none of that extra fabric Nick always found excessive on dresses. ' _No frill, no bullshit_ ', as he had once said. Just a plain ol' but oh so grand dress.

“What do you think?” Judy asked, with a big smile as she twirled around.

Nick caught himself before saying ' _It's pretty tight_.' and mentally facepawed.

“You look just amazing.” he said.  
“So do you, Slick, look at you! Looking as sharp as ever!”  
“Look out, I might cut you.” he said, slowly swatting at the air, mouthing 'rawr' with a toothy grin.

Judy was first surprised, then smirked. 

“Foxy.”

They both laughed at the absolutely not funny pun, then Nick got serious again.

“Alright, spill it, Carrots. How much is that thing.”  
“A hundred and fifty.”  
“...Expected more. It makes you look beautiful.”  
“Aww, Nick. You're adorable.”  
“It's true, though.” he said with a shrug.  
“How much is your ensemble?”  
“Two hundred.”  
“Yowch.”  
“It's fine. I've got this. Change back, and let's go.” he said, smiling.  
“Yessir.” she said with a mock salute, and walked back behind the curtain.

As they walked out of the shop (not without properly bidding the flamboyant employee goodbye), Judy nudged Nick.

“I don't think it's safe to carry around so much cash, you know.”  
“I must always be ready to buy an emergency tux.”  
“Nick, I'm serious.”  
“Carrots, I'm pretty sure noone is stupid enough to pickpocket a fox, considering they all assume foxes to be poor sons a' bitches.”  
“Nick, don't say that!” Judy said, shocked.  
“I'm allowed to say it, I'm a fox.”

He smirked.

“...Just like I can't say that you're the downright cutest damn bunny I know.”

She glared, but he didn't falter.

“...And I know everybody in town.”

She decided to let the racial slur slide, and take it as the compliment it was meant to be, as she wrapped her arms around him for a short hug.

“Dumb fox.”

 

When they got back to Judy's apartment, before unlocking the door, Judy stopped and turned to Nick with a worried expression.

“...What.” he asked.  
“Nick, I think you should stay over.”

Nick blinked, taken by surprise by the sudden offer.

“Stay over?”  
“Yes. I don't like the idea of us splitting up when we're both targets.”  
Nick stared at Judy with a pensive look. Then he lifted a finger.

“On one condition.”

Judy lit up at his cooperation, and faked a sigh.

“Yes, you can have the bed.” she said.  
“...Not what I meant.”  
“Oh.”  
“You come to my place. There's no way I'm spending the night next to these rambunctious and compulsive arguers.” he said, gesturing towards the Oryx-Antlerson apartment.

Judy blinked, as she processed the implications. After realizing she could only profit from the situation, she nodded.

“Okay.” she said, as she unlocked the door, and entered her apartment.  
“Awesome.” he smiled. “Pack your carrot-printed panties and your toothbrush, and we're off.”

She glared at him. 

“Stop saying that.”  
“Saying what?” he said, faking ignorance, walking past her.  
“Don't make me say it, you know exactly what I mean.” Judy insisted, thumping her foot on the floor.  
“I don't have the slightest clue what you're talk-- Ow!”

 

“...Who goes shopping at a time like this?” Wolford wondered.  
“Bah, it's their day off, give 'em a break.” Howlitz replied with a dismissive shrug.

Wolford's phone began ringing, and he answered.

“Wolford.”  
“ _Yo, Delgato here._ ”  
“Yo.”  
“ _We're taking over, anything relevant?_ ”  
“They went to Hugoat Boss, and left with a couple bags.”  
“ _What?_ ”  
“I know, right?”  
“ _Yeah, weird. Anyway, yeah, head back, Bogo wants a word._ ”  
“Roger. Talk to ya later. Good luck not falling asleep.”  
“ _Thanks. Out._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea why I keep stretching the plot out like that.
> 
> It's probably pretty boring since chapter 2.
> 
> But stay tuned, things get moving again in the very near future!


	7. Chapter 7

“... _Voilà_ , welcome to the Grand Wilde Resort.” Nick said with a dramatic stance, arms wide.

Judy walked into Nick's apartment, taking in the sight. 

The room seemed about as big as Judy's entire apartment. There was a large bed, probably designed for a mammal the size of a lion, a wide wardrobe ( _What does he even keep in there, he barely wears anything other than hawaiian shirts._ ), a TV, a desk with an office chair and even a laptop. There were two doors on the right side, which Judy assumed were a bathroom and kitchen. Nick's foot claws clicked against the pristine wooden floor.

“It's not bad, for a sly fox's living quarters, eh?” he said.

Judy laid her bag on the floor, looking all over, impressed.

“How did you manage to buy all this?”  
“Need I remind you what you reminded to me earlier? ' _Used to make two hundred bucks a day, all the while living under a bridge._ ' Tax-free.”  
“Oh, that's right, I forgot that you were nothing more than that, at one point. Just a sly fox.” she said, with a mocking tone.

Nick laughed, and shook his head. Judy cocked her head.

“What's so funny, Slick Nick?”  
“It's just weird to think about the complete one-eighty turn you made me do in my life.”

He opened his arms, gesturing to everything around him.

“This, all of this... is because of you.”

Judy wasn't sure what to say, but she didn't have to. Nick walked up to her and crouched to her level.

“Carrots... I never really took the time to tell you this...”

She smiled warmly, and he leaned in for a hug.

“...Thank you. For everything.”

She returned the hug, squeezing as hard as she could.

“My pleasure.” she whispered in his ear, earning a short shudder.  
“Geh, stop it, trying to be sincere, here!”  
“Never.” she whispered again.  
“Oh yeah?” he said, with a toothy grin. “Then how do you like..."

He began tickling her furiously.

“THIS!”  
“Aaaah! Noooohoho! Stooop!” 

Nick stood up, lifting Judy off the floor as she squirmed and wriggled trying to get away from his prying tickling grip, his fingers running all over her tiny bunny body. She was laughing and squealing uncontrollably. Nick was having an absolute blast. 

Judy managed to power through enough tickles to be able to push Nick back. He stumbled, and let go of Judy. She grabbed Nick's collar in an attempt to stop her drop, bringing him down to the floor with her. 

Nick shook his head.

“Wow, what the hell hap--”

He stopped when he saw Judy's blush. He realized the position they were in. Judy was lying on her back, and Nick was laying on top of her, with his elbows on each side of her. They stared at each other in silence. Judy turned away, visibly flustered. Nick coughed, and stood up, dusting himself off, then extended a paw at Judy. She grabbed it, and stood back up.

“You alright?” Nick asked.  
“Yes, thanks.”

They stared at each other. Nick smiled, and opened his arms. 

“C'm'here.”

Judy smiled back, and hugged him again. When she pulled away, Nick spoke up.

“Now then, make yourself at home. There's the bed, that's the bathroom, there's the kitchen, plenty of stuff in the fridge, and most importantly...” he crashed on the bed with a 'pomf'. “...here's the bed.”  
“You said that already.” Judy pointed out.  
“It's the most important thing. It's where I sleep. Deserves to be mentioned twice.”

He grabbed the remote, and patted the bed next to him.

“Hop on, Hopps. Kick back.”

She jumped on, and as she laid down in the soft mattress, she realized the day had really taken a toll on her. She was very tired.

“What a fucking day.” she said.  
“I second that.”

 

 

Judy finally felt good.

It had been two days since the train incident, and for the first time since then, she had actually slept. 

And it felt good.

She sat up in the bed, stretching and yawning so widely she wondered how her bottom jaw didn't simply fall off. She blinked a few times, smacking her lips, and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Eleven thirty. Huh. That was the longest into a morning she'd ever slept. But turns out, she couldn't have cared less. Not having to get up at 5:30 is nice, from time to time. Especially on a day off. 

She turned her head, and noticed Nick had already gotten up. All of a sudden...

*sniff* 

She came to her senses.

*sniff, sniff* 

That smell... She knew it... It was...

*sniff* 

Her eyes went wide and her ears perked up.

_**Pancakes.** _

She almost jumped out of bed, immediately pumped up, and ran to the kitchen. The morning jog could go suck on a carrot. Sure enough, there he was. Nick was standing in front of the stove, rocking a pan back and forth.

“'Morning, Carrots.” he said, voice low and raspy from sleep. He had obviously not been awake for very long. “How are you feeling?”  
“Much better, thanks, Nick. Hurry those pancakes up, though, I'm star--”

She stopped, noticing something very peculiar.

“Um, Nick.”  
“Hm.”  
“Where are your boxers.”  
“Dunno.”

He turned his head so Judy could see his sleepy smirk.

“Like what you see?” he said in an even lower, husky voice, swishing his tail around.

She turned on her heel, so he wouldn't see her blushing furiously, and quickly walked out. Nick laughed softly.

“I'll take that as a 'yes', then.”  
“Idiot.” he heard her say from the bed.

 

Fangmeyer yawned, causing Delgato to yawn as well. The two tigers were getting seriously bored, now, too.

“Yo, what time do the others take over?” Fangmeyer asked.

Delgato checked his watch.

“In about ten minutes.”  
“Cool.”

Those ten minutes felt like hours. Delgato's phone finally rang.

“Yo, Delgato here.”  
“ _Hey. It's LeLoup._ ” came a voice with a slight French accent.  
“What's up, babe.”  
“ _Keep it professional, dork._ ”  
“Heh.”  
“ _Anything to report?_ ”  
“Absolutely nothing. They haven't poked their noses out since they came back from shopping yesterday.”  
“ _...Shopping?_ ”  
“Yep.”  
“ _Who goes shopping--_ ” LeLoup stopped herself. “ _Anyway, head back, boys. Sadly, it's our turn._ ”  
“Have fun. Delgato out.”

Delgato turned on the engine, and pulled the car out of the parking spot. As they drove past the Grand Pangolin Arms, Fangmeyer cleared his throat.

“Hey, uh, D?” he said, hesitantly.  
“What.”

Fangmeyer coughed.

“Do you... want to go get, uh... coffee?”

Delgato frowned, then turned to face the other slightly shorter tiger. Then he gave a gentle smile.

“Sure.”

Fangmeyer grinned from ear to ear with excitement.

 _Change of plans for this morning_ , Delgato thought to himself.

 

Once Nick had gone and actually get dressed (if being in boxers can be considered 'dressed'), he had announced breakfast was ready, and Judy barreled into the room, going straight for the table, where a steaming pile of delicious-smelling pancakes was waiting for her to dig in. She grabbed a plate, and excitedly proceeded to peel the first one off, pour some blueberry jam on top, roll it up, and shove it in her mouth. She chewed, then gave a long, contented moan, as she savored the warm pancake's smooth texture combined with the sweet blueberry goodness.

“Dish ij amajing.”

Nick wondered how she managed to talk with a mouth literally full of blueberry pancake.

“I do my best.” 

He leaned on the table.

“...Notice anything?”

She blinked. Nick directed his eyes to the table with a flick from his eyebrows, before looking back at her expectantly. She quickly inspected everything on the table. The pan, the pile of pancakes...

“Hm!” she tried to exclaim, her mouth still full.

The half-empty jar of jam sported an tag that read ' _Hopps Family Farm Blueberry Jam_ ' and a marker inscription that said ' _a.k.a. Not Night Howlers_ '. She finally managed to swallow her giant pancake-y bite, and laughed. Nick snickered when he saw that her teeth were painted blue.

“I had forgotten I wrote that.” she said, proud of her past self.“Do you like it?” she asked.  
“What, the joke? Meh. It was really hard to get that blue color out of my fur, you know.”

She chuckled. That one afternoon at the museum was not one they were about to forget. That reminded Judy of Bellwether. She wondered how the short shady sheep was doing. Then took her mind off it. 

She didn't want to think of the one friend she had in Zootopia when she first moved in from Bunnyburrow, who then became her mortal enemy. 

“No, but seriously, do you like the jam?”  
“Carrots, asking me if I like blueberries is like asking an elephant if they'd crush a mouse just by stepping on it.”  
“So are you saying you're terrified of blueberries?” she said, faking a confused frown.

Nick blinked a few times. Then he realized she was messing with him, and rolled his eyes.

“Took you long enough.” she said, before engulfing another large bite into her face.

He dipped a finger in the jar, and licked the jam off. 

"Yes. Yes I do."

 

After breakfast, they decided to just watch TV, and enjoy their last day off before getting back to working the streets. Judy couldn't focus on the screen. Soap was not her type of show, while Nick seemed to get a kick out of just how bad he thought it was. Judy's gaze drifted from Nick, to the screen, back to Nick, back to the screen, until eventually, she turned her head to glance all over the room. Then something caught her eye. Her bag was still laying on the floor near the entrance. She remembered the message. Her and Nick were meeting a complete stranger at the Great Glacier that evening.

“Nick?”  
“Hm?” he looked at her.  
“About this evening...”

Nick nodded, knowing exactly what was up.

“...I'm worried.”  
“Me too, Carrots. But we've been over this, there's a higher chance of us getting home unharmed than us meeting death at our table at the Glacier.”

He smiled.

“Don't worry, and I'll do my best to do the same. Besides...”

He brought up his fist.

“...Remember we're in this together.”

She smiled, feeling somewhat reassured, and as she bumped Nick's fist, she said:

“Together.”

...

“Well what?” Judy said, when Nick stayed quiet. “Aren't you gonna add some sound effect?”  
“You crazy?” he replied. “After what happened last time?”

He waved a finger.

“Nuh-uh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know about you, but this LeLoup character that I made up?
> 
> It's growing on me.
> 
> I think I'm in love with those words I typed. 'Cause that's possible, right? I mean, there's people out there that have developped sexual attraction to their fucking car, why can't I marry SOME WORDS, HUH?! I THOUGHT THIS WAS A FREE COUNTRY!! BESIDES, I CREATED HER!! I COULD MAKE HER CALL ME DADDY IF I WANTED!!
> 
> GOOD THING I DON'T ACTUALLY WANT TO!!
> 
> Seriously, don't ever call someone other than your father figure 'daddy'.
> 
> Please.
> 
> I beg you.
> 
> For the sake of all the cute otters in the world. You wouldn't want to make a cute otter sad, would you?
> 
> also shy fangmeyer X 'don juan' delgato otp
> 
> (ALSO PLOT INTENSIFIES NEXT CHAPTER GIT REDY 2 GIT PLOTTED)


	8. Chapter 8

“How do I look?” Nick asked, adjusting his bow tie.  
“Dashing.” Judy replied.  
“What time is it?” he asked.  
“Twenty to eight.”  
“Plenty of time.” he said, checking himself in the mirror for any little thing that needed attention.

Aside from his astounding looks, nothing to be seen. He smiled with pride, then turned to Judy. She was donning that amazing dress, bent over, swatting at the small folds that had appeared on it overnight. He wanted to make a remark about her probably wearing the same carrot-printed panties ( _How many of those does she even own?_ ), but he decided against it. She would surely damage his new tux. She straightened, and looked at Nick.

“Ready?” she asked.  
“You know it.”

No doubt. They were ready. Ready to go out there, and see just who this mystery mammal was. Ready to fight whoever was going to come at them. 

 

After a short silent drive, Nick drove the car into the parking lot near the Great Glacier. When the car came to a stop, he turned off the engine and stepped out. He shuddered, from the sudden change in temperature around him. He then walked up to the passenger seat door, where Judy was already exiting the car.

“I... should have brought a little vest.” she said, shivering.  
“Let's hurry inside.”

Judy passed an arm around Nick's, and they walked to the fancy-looking building. 

The tall structure towered over the surrounding area, shining golden lights on the façade, adorned with marble sculptures. The restaurant had five floors, all of which beared large panoramic windows, for the guests to admire Tundratown in all of its evening splendor; the lights of the glacial district colored the snow and ice in an array of wonderful colors.

They walked up to the door, where an arctic fox doorman greeted them with a smile.

“Good evening, Milord and Milady.”

He gestured for the unlikely couple to proceed. Nick gave a small bow.

“Milady Hopps.” 

She smiled, but held back her snicker at Nick's out-of-character gentlemammal attitude, and walked in.

The inside of the restaurant was as pretty as the outside. Candles, marble pillars, soft red carpeting, golden ornaments on the light beige walls... 

“Whoa...” Judy said with sparkling eyes.  
“Yeah, this is really pretty.” Nick said, looking all around, taking in the sight.

A small otter dressed in a maroon suit vest and white shirt greeted them from behind a little desk.

“Good evening, welcome to the Great Glacier.” he said, warmly.  
“Good evening.” Nick said. “A... friend is waiting for us?”

The otter immediately smiled. 

“Ah! Yes, of course. Follow me, please.”

The otter got down from his perch, and started guiding them through the restaurant.

They glanced at the other tables as they walked past. The place was quite busy. Then again, romantic friday night almost had to begin at fancy restaurants if you were rich. (the guest couples would usually get so caught up in each other that, usually before midnight, one was bound to end up exploring the other's most private confines, be it mentally, or, obviously, physically.) The only thing was that they were not used to being among those mammals. They weren't rich, most of the time weren't fancy, and most importantly, this was definitely not a romantic evening. 

The otter took them to an elevator, which opened when he entered a key in the small keyhole in the wall. He then stepped aside, and gestured for Judy and Nick to move in.

“This will take you to the fifth floor. Enjoy your evening.”  
“Thank you, sir.” Judy said, smiling, slightly uncomfortable.

When the doors had closed, she turned to Nick, who smiled reassuringly. They felt the elevator starting its ascent, and a few seconds later, the doors opened back up, to reveal a short hallway, dimly illuminated by a glass chandelier, leading to wide double doors with a shiny golden frame. A tall bear in a dark red suit was standing a couple feet from the elevator. He smiled, as he gestured for them to proceed.

“Welcome to the Great Glacier's Luxuries. Your host is waiting for you.” he said in his booming yet soft voice.

They looked at each other at the mention of their 'host'. 

They walked down the hallway, as Judy took Nick's arm. She was nervous. When they got to the double doors, Nick stopped, and glanced at Judy. When she looked up at him, he brought up his fist. She smiled, and bumped it. Then they pushed the doors open.

The room they walked into looked like a very large suite, the likes of which you would expect to see in a seven-star hotel, except without the bed. Lit by a large glass and gold chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, the walls were covered with paintings, while the outer wall was made of windows, offering a view of evening Tundratown. In the corner of the room, were sofas and armchairs, placed in a circle around a low glass coffeetable, on top of which was a chessboard which seemed to be made entirely of marble. ( _They like their marble around here_ , Nick thought.) There was a low, wide round table in the middle of the room, and there were two sets of silverware, two plates and two glasses of wine on their side, opposite to a rather peculiar-looking mammal, who stood up.

As he made his way around the table, Nick and Judy looked their 'host' up and down. He was a white rabbit, no taller than Judy was, dressed in an impeccable white suit vest, white shirt, black slacks, with a black bow tie. But what really caught their eyes were his stripes. Three black markings on each side of his face reached for his cheeks from the back of his head, and the same black markings colored the tip of his ears. As he got closer, they noticed his shiny, bright blue eyes. 

He walked up to them, came to a stop, and finally broke the silence.

“Miss Hopps, Mister Wilde, it is truly an honor to finally meet you in person.” he crooned, his voice smooth and deep.

He extended a paw at Judy. While she had intended to stay as calm and collected as she could, she reached out and grabbed it a bit quicker than she intended, giving away her nervousness.

“Miss Hopps.” he said, then kissed the back of her hand. “Your story is nothing short of spectacular.”

He then extended his paw at Nick, who shook it.

“Mister Wilde, while your partner Miss Hopps has conquered the physical boundaries of our world, you have managed to win the fight against your own past.”

He put his paws behind his back, and slowly walked to the windowed wall. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up again.

“You have managed to go beyond what the world expected of you; a world that saw you as nothing more than a big-ideas country bunny, and a sly, untrustworthy fox. And together, you have stopped the ruin of Zootopia, and the world as we know it.”

He paused to turn around, and took a slight bow.

“For that, I would like to personally thank, and congratulate you.”

Nick and Judy both smiled, more out of unease than genuine appreciation. He straightened.

“Now then. Please, take a seat.” he said, gesturing to the table.

He walked to his seat, and noticed the duo wasn't following.

“...Is there something wrong?”

They both looked at each other.

“Sorry to sound blunt...” Judy started. “But... who are you?”

“My name is Savage.”

He paused as he sat on his chair.

“...Jack Savage.”

 

When Nick and Judy had taken their seats, Jack called for a waiter. Judy had almost forgotten this was a restaurant. When they had made their choice, they put down their menus, and Jack spoke up again.

“Now, I'm certain you have a lot of questions.”

Nick raised a finger, but before he could speak, Judy nudged him, with a look that said 'Please behave'. He decided to scratch the joke about having as many questions as the amount of times a rabbit couple usually gives birth, and settled for the next best thing, the most obvious question.

“Why exactly are we here?”

Jack leaned in after a few seconds of silence as he took a sip of his wine.

“Do you remember the message I sent you?”

They nodded.

“...Not everyone loves cops.” Judy said.  
“That is something you should know better than me, at this point.”

Nick perked up.

“Do you know anything?”  
“I know that you have been the targets of an assassination attempt. And I am more than happy to see that they have failed.”

He took a sip of wine.

“I also know who may be the most likely culprits.”  
“What?!” they said in unison, trying their best not to shout.  
“Keyword being likely.”  
“Please tell us more.” Judy said, inching forward in her seat.

Jack took another sip, and put down his glass.

“First of all, Mister Wilde, I need you to know that we have kept a close eye on you ever since the Night Howler incident, and you, Miss Hopps, since your graduation.”

Their eyes went wide in disbelief.

“...Why?” Judy asked.

“For intelligence.”

Judy cocked her head.

“...What does that mean?”

“It means information, Carrots.” Nick said. “But what kind of information could you possibly get from just watching us?” he said, turning back to Jack. “What exactly are you, Mister Savage?” he asked, frowning.

He got himself ready to lunge, as Jack took a deep breath.

Then, in less than a second, the rabbit was standing, had pulled out a revolver, and had pointed the barrel right at Nick's head.

Judy and Nick both paled in terror, frozen in place. 

A few long seconds went by.

Jack lowered his gun, and put it away, sitting back down.

“Do you trust me now?” he asked.

After a few seconds, Nick shook his head, then violently slammed both his paws on the table, and pushed his chair back, standing up, and startling Judy in the process.

“Why the fuck would I trust you after that?!” he shouted. “You could have shot me!”  
“'Could', Mister Wilde.” 

He picked up his glass of wine. Nick couldn't believe this nonchalance, while Judy was scared out of her wit.

“Besides, I've already told you enough to have to kill you as it is. But as you may or may not have noticed...” he took a sip. “...you are both very much alive.”

Nick glanced at Judy. He then pulled his chair back to the table, and sat back down.

“Mister Savage."  
"Mister Wilde?"  
"Why are we here?"

Jack leaned in.

“Because we need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww yeah, Jack Savage, motherhumpers!
> 
>  
> 
> Plot thickens, stay tuned for more!


	9. Chapter 9

Nick and Judy blinked in confusion.

“You... need our help?” Judy asked.  
“Yes.”

She turned to Nick, who shrugged.

“Listen to me.” Jack said.

They both turned to him. 

“Everything I say until you leave this room is to remain strictly confidential, and mustn't be repeated to anyone, under any circumstances. Is that clear? Miss Hopps?”  
“Crystal clear.” she said, nervously.  
“Mister Wilde?”  
“Clear.”  
“Very good.” 

He cleared his throat.

“My name, as I've told you, is Jack Savage, and I am an elite member of the MSIS, the Mammalia Secret Intelligence Services, a subdivision of the WSS. World Secret Services, a world-wide secret organization working in the shadows of this world, that aims to protect it from those who wish to do it harm. Spies, computer and technology experts, teams of behavioral and physiological scientists. The best of the best.”  
“Why would the best of the best need our help?” Nick asked.  
“ _How about you let Jack talk, so he can explain, fox_.” came a feminine voice speaking with a gaelic accent.

Nick looked around frantically for the source of the rude new voice. Jack chuckled.

“It's fine, Sandra. In due time.”  
“ _Don't make me remind you we're risking our jobs, and thus lives, here_.”

Nick turned back to Jack, realizing the voice came from where Jack was sitting.

“Is the voice coming from your... watch?” Judy asked.  
“ _Yes it is, get back to business_.”  
“Thank you, Sandra, I'll handle this.” Jack said, pushing a button on the watch, silencing the irritatingly rude individual on the other end. “Apologies.”  
“It's fine.” Judy said, fascinated by the gadget. 

Nick huffed.

“As I was about to say, we need your help because of your involvement in the Night Howler case from last year.”  
“...Why?”  
“You're not without knowing that the instigator, the corrupt Dawn Bellwether has escaped multiple times in the last few months. We want to find out why, but unfortunately, we have not been able to get to her before the ZPD. You two, as it so happened to be, last time.”  
“How have you not been able to, if you are the 'best of the best'?” Nick said, not hiding his sarcastic tone.

Judy hissed. 

“Stop it, Nick!”

Jack chuckled.

“We are. The only thing is that Sandra is the only animal at the WSS I trust enough not to snitch.”  
“Snitch?” Judy asked, confused.  
“Yes. As you may have understood from Sandra's recent outburst, we are risking our job. And there's no such thing as firing from the WSS. There's only...” he paused to take a sip. “...terminating. We are risking our lives to protect yours.”

Nick and Judy blinked.

“I need you to understand the implications of this. Why, you ask, have we not been able to get to talk to her in time? Simply because we have limited resources. Sandra and I must keep this operation between as few people as possible. The fewer people who know, the fewer the chances of this operation slipping through to the leaders. Should they, for example, come to know about this very meeting, all four of us will be... shall we say, forced to retire. Involving civilians is strictly and absolutely forbidden, as it puts the entire system in danger; knowledge in the wrong hands could have horrific repercussions for the entire WSS and its agents.”

He paused.

“If you tell anyone about this encounter, or anything I've told you so far... I'm afraid I will have no choice but to kill you. And since, as I've told you, involving, and especially killing untargeted civilians is strictly forbidden.”

He leaned in.

"In other words: you talk... we all die." 

Judy paled, and Nick inched closer to wrap an arm around her.

“I trust that my point has been made clear.”

They both nodded.

“Very good.” he said, clapping his hands together.

At that moment, two waiters came in with a tray. Nick lit up. He hadn't realized he was so hungry. But Judy only felt very sick. Even the pretty carrot and onion salad the waiters put in front of her didn't manage to make her hungry. Jack lifted his glass.

“Cheers.”

 

Halfway through his plate of bugcake, Nick spoke up.

“So. Mister Savage, what exactly do you want with Bellwether?”

Jack wiped his mouth clean of pepper sauce.

“We have reason to believe there's more to it than just her escaping prison seemingly only for the sake of getting out.”  
“...What do you think she's doing it for?” Judy asked.  
“Don't you find it peculiar, that she escapes, and no longer than five days later, you are victims of an assassination attempt?”

Nick perked up.

“You're not saying that you think...”  
“...That Dawn Bellwether is behind it? We believe it is a possibility. And it would be quite reassuring if it did turn out that way.”  
“...Why?” Judy asked, curious.  
"I will explain that another time, should it become relevant. For now, recall back to the Night Howler case.”

' _...Again_.', Nick wanted to add, but instead took another bite.

“Dawn Bellwether attempted to render illegal the simple fact of being born a predator. You stopped her. You did your job well.”

He paused.

“Bellwether feared predators. Fear that turned into hate. Speciesm, while it is a despicable trait, can make one go to extreme lengths for one's own goals and ideologies... such as blackmail, public harassment, or in this case, social incapacitation by turning predators savage, and sometimes even... murder. And while it is possible, she's far from being alone. She could be behind it, directly or indirectly. Think of those who shared those ideas of blind hate towards predators. How do you think they feel about the one that they saw as an ideological leader being arrested, and therefore silenced?”  
“They feel like they lost...” Judy said.  
“And want revenge.” Nick continued.

Jack slowly nodded.

“Not everyone loves cops, Detectives.”

After a few seconds of silence, Judy spoke up.

“What do you want us to do?”  
“Talk to Bellwether. Get her to say anything that may indicate her involvement in your assassination attempt.”  
“...Is that it?” Nick asked, a bit underwhelmed. “Why don't you do it yourself?”  
“Because I want to avoid exposing myself when I can. Besides, she knows you, and you know how to get to her. Better than sending in someone she doesn't know, correct?”

Judy and Nick looked at each other, and both nodded. Nick turned to Jack.

“Understood.”  
“Splendid.” he crooned, placing his fork and knife on the side of his plate. “Now, may I suggest you finish your plates, and get to the desserts. The blueberry pie is to die for.”

Nick's eyes widened at the mention of his favorite pastry. He felt like that wasn't just a coincidence, but he brushed that thought aside. _Blueberry pie is blueberry pie_ , he thought.

 

The rest of the dinner was calmer, and way less heavy. There was casual conversation, jokes, and it overall felt like a good time. Judy felt hungry enough to try to eat, and when she ate her first mouthful of sallad, she lost track of time until she had emptied her plate. She loved it. Nick was almost scared at the speed she gobbled her food at, while Jack found it fascinating. When the time for dessert arrived, Jack ordered three slices of blueberry pie, and when they arrived, Nick had to stop himself from devouring all three.

Nick put down his fork, leaning back with a contented sigh.

“Wow, it is true, that was to die for.” he said.  
“The best cook in Tundratown.” Jack added.  
“Best in Zootopia, I'd say.” Judy cut in.

Nick brought a finger up. 

“Only if this place wasn't so pompous.”

He raised both his paws at Jack.

“No offense.”

Jack gave a dismissive paw wave.

 

After a few more minutes of the casual 'what's-your-favorite-pastry' type of conversation, Jack stood up.

“Well then. This has been lovely, but I'm afraid I must get back to work.”

He reached a paw across the table.

“It has been a pleasure.”

Nick and Judy shook his paw.

"And call this number to contact me." he added as he gave them a little note.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mister Savage.” Nick said.  
"We won't let you down." Judy added. 

Jack sat back down, as they walked to the double doors.

“Stay safe, Detectives.” he said, lifting his glass.

When they had left, Jack pressed a button on his watch.

" _I hope you know what you're doing, Jack_."

Jack took a deep breath.

 _Me too_ , he thought.

 

In the elevator, Judy looked up at Nick.

“Nick? Do you think...”  
“...Bellwether?” he asked.

Judy nodded.

“I have no idea.” he said. “But we'll get to the bottom of this.”

The doors opened, and they walked out, through the restaurant, and out into the cold streets.

“Have a good night.” the doorman said with a smile.

 

As they walked to the car, Judy looked up at Nick... only to be blinded for a split second by the bright streetlight. She blinked a few times to regain her sight, then tried again. 

Nick was handsomer than he'd ever been. However now, there was something more to his beauty than just the tux. It hadn't gotten stained, it was still in perfect shape. Maybe it was his shiny green eyes, half-lidded in a way that only he could know how to do, that somehow made them prettier. Maybe it was his sincerely content smile, not sarcastic or deviant like he'd perfected over the years. She wasn't sure what it was. But _holy fluff_ was he handsome.

She caught herself having all those thoughts. She wanted to hit herself in the face, but that would probably scare Nick more than anything. She coudn't possibly be in love with her best friend and colleague...

 

…Could she?

 

“Nick?”  
“Hm?”  
“Did they think we were a couple?”  
“...Probably. Why, is that a problem?”

Judy blushed. 

“N-No! Absolutely not! You know I...”

Nick waited for the final words. Judy struggled to get them out.

“...really like you.” she finally said.

Nick smirked.

“Oh, Carrots.”

He bent down to nuzzle the top of her head.

“You know you love me.” he said, quietly.

Judy gave a little sheepish smile.

“...Yes.” she said, opening the car door. “Yes I do.” 

 

_**But by god, how I wish I knew what kind of love.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAAAAAAAAAH, NICKXJUDY IS TOO STRONG IN THIS ONE, WHY HAS NOONE STOPPED ME YET


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Slight adult talk in this chapter. Short, but quite graphic.

The car ride was pretty silent. Nick was still sporting that content smile, while Judy was struggling to stay awake. The quiet humming of the engine was strangely soothing, and without realizing it, she fell asleep. 

After a few minutes, Nick pulled the car over near her apartment building.

“Here we are.” he said, quietly. “Come on, I'll take you to your room.”

When there was no response, he turned to the passenger seat.

Judy had lost her fight against sleep. She had curled up in her seat, in an adorable little blue and gray fuzzball. Nick smiled. She was so unbelievably adorable. He hesitated. Wake her up? Carry her upstairs? Waking her up would make his climb way easier... 

At that, Nick mentally facepawed. What a selfish thing to think! 

He walked out of the car, and around to the passenger seat door. He opened, carefully, not making a sound, and grabbed her keys from her purse, then swooped her up, and carried her inside.

 

“...And then, just guess what he says.”  
“...The radiator pickup line?”  
“ _En plein dans le mille_.”

Snoutson slaps his forehead, with an unbelieving smile.

“You're kidding.”  
“Absolutely not.” 

LeLoup started waving her paws around.

“'Hey baby, did you sit on a radiator?'” she stopped to mimick a punch. “Didn't even let him finish.”  
“You're such a ice cold bitch.” he replied, laughing.

She turned.

“Freezin'.” she said wtih a toothy grin.  
“You almost should've gone with it, the guy obviously had some balls.”  
“Precisely. Think of all the pussy I'd miss out on.”  
“Point taken, you thirsty skank.”  
“I love it when you talk dirty.”

Snoutson turned to the Grand Pangolin Arms.

“I can't believe the others got fucking escort duty, so we just spend a whole twenty-four hours sitting still.” he complained.  
“Don't worry, this is the last time. They return to duty tomorrow.”  
“Doesn't change the fact that my ass is killing me.” he continued, reaching for his hurty behind.  
“I can maybe help with that.”  
“I thought you were after pussy?” he said, turning to her with a smirk.  
“Honestly, I'd massage your butt anyday. Maybe even eat it.” she replied, sounding weirdly sincere.

Snoutson turned back to the building with a laugh, when a car passed by theirs. His laughing was cut short when the car parked in front of the building. He froze.  
“...Holy fucking **shit**.” he said, eyes wide.  
“What?”

Snoutson slowly pointed to the fox carefully carrying a sleeping rabbit, headed to the building they had been guarding since their takeover from the tigers. LeLoup's eyes widened as well.

“... _Merde_.” LeLoup only managed to say.  
“Is that who I think it is.”  
“Obviously.”

It was indeed Nick and Judy. The two mammals they were supposed to keep a constant eye on.

“What do.” the nervous male asked.  
“Nothing. They're back. It's like they never left.”

Snoutson turned to her.

“Besides, imagine the firestorm Bogo would put us through if he learned that they somehow managed to slip out of surveillance.” she said.  
“...They don't happen to know we've been watching them...”

They both looked at the door that was now closed.

“...do they?” he slowly added.  
“I hope not.”

 

As soon as Nick reached the fifth floor, he was reminded of the reason why he had refused to stay over in the first place. The neighbours were arguing again.

“Mmmh...” Judy groaned in her sleep.

That's when Nick made a decision. He opened the door to Judy's room, walked to the bed, pulled back the blanket, and carefully laid Judy in her bed. He marched out the door, leaving it open.

 

He knocked on the door a couple times. A few more seconds of shouting, as one voice seemed to get nearer.

“What!” Pronk said, swinging the door open. “We're busy!”

Nick raised both his paws.

“Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm ever so sorry to have disturbed your lovely little screamo rehearsal, but, you see, I have a few questions.”  
“What are you, a cop?” Pronk deadpanned, just wanting to get back to Bucky, and prove him that it was indeed his brother that had used the remote last.  
“Who is it?” he asked from inside the room.  
“As a matter of fact, Sir, I happen to be a ZPD detective.” Nick said. He continued, unfazed by Pronk's slight switch in facial expressions. “So let me ask you those questions. First off, are you aware of the current time?”  
“Uuh... Half past ten?”  
“Thirty-six past ten, to be precise.”  
“Who the hell is it?!” Bucky insisted.  
“A cop, hang the hell on!”

Nick cleared his throat, and Pronk turned back to him.

“Second, are you aware that your neighbour, Miss Judith Hopps...” he refrained from using the full name. “...has been victim of an assassination attempt, been to the hospital, and is, overall, very stressed?”  
“Yeah, I heard, but--”  
“Thanks, that'll do.” Nick abruptly cut him off. “Third, are you aware that your disproportionately deafening domestic disputes are audible throughout the floor?”  
“...Yeah.” Pronk answered, getting slightly antsy.  
“Wonderful.”

In a flash, Nick reached up, and grabbed Pronk by the left horn, and pulled him down so they were at equal eye levels. Pronk was startled, then scared as he saw Nick's expression. His fake smile had completely subsided, his eyes were wide, his eyebrows were furrowed. He was fuming.

“Now, you listen here, you rambunctious rascal.” Nick really liked to use that word. “Judy is sleeping next door, and she's exhausted. I don't give even half a shit what you two can possibly argue about, but next time she complains about arguing next door, I throw you both in jail for nightly disturbance. So I suggest... actually no, I command you...” he poked Pronk's nose for emphasis. “...to **keep it. The fuck. Down**.”

He stared into the terrified oryx's eyes for a few seconds, before his expression reverted back to the big fake smile as he let go of his horn.

“Now then. Have a good, quiet night.”

He waved before entering Judy's room.

“Buh-bye.”

Pronk slowly closed the door.

“...Pronk?” Bucky asked, hesitantly.

Pronk very slowly turned to face him.

“...Holy fuck.” Bucky said, shocked.

He looked like he'd just seen a ghost. He slowly walked past his brother, towards his bed, laid down, and wrapped himself in his blankets, without saying a single word.

Bucky was not sure what just happened. But he knew one thing.

They needed to stop arguing.

 

When Nick walked back into Judy's room, she was still curled up in her dress on her bed. He thought that he couldn't let her sleep in that beautiful dress. But, there was a catch. That would mean...

Undressing her.

_I can't let her ruin that dress. But what if she wakes up? Cuffing her so she can't move and damage it is out of the question. Besides, no bars to cuff her to. Why am I still thinking about cuffing her in her sleep?! I should really remove that dress. But what if she wakes up? I need to do something! But what if she wakes up?! Oh, man, what do I do!?_

After a few minutes of internal debate, he was getting seriously mad at this stupid dilemma. But when he saw her shift a bit, and he could have sworn he heard fabric ripping:

 _Fuck it_.

He went over to her, and very slowly straightened her body...

 _Come on. Focus, Nick_.

He turned her on her belly, and reached for the zipper. As he pulled it down, he realized he had never hated the sound of a zipper so much. When he felt like it got loose enough, he tugged on the dress to pull it off, but with Judy's weight, more force was needed to slide it out from under her, while still being careful not to damage it. It took him a full minute of fighting an asleep bunny to finally pull it off...

 _No, Nick_.

She was indeed wearing another pair of those carrot-printed panties, and...

_Holy shit_

Her chest was bare. 

_Goddammit, Carrots!_

He decided that for once, she'd sleep in (half) her underwear. Screw putting her in pajamas. He closed his eyes, and flipped her around, so she was laying on her back, and fiddled around for the blanket to cover her up. He finally found it, and pulled it over Judy's... delicate, soft-looking chest...

_NO! STOP IT!_

He had to stop himself from throwing his own paw against his face. The loud slap sound would probably wake her up.

He covered her up, stepped back, and took a deep breath. He had done it. Without waking her up.

_Phew._

He looked her over. For the first time in a while, she really seemed peaceful. She was pretty cute, too.

…

Okay, really fucking cute. She was the cutest mammal Nick had ever seen. (aside maybe from the ones in that one picture she showed her of her youngest siblings.)

He couldn't resist. He bent down, and laid a soft kiss on her forehead, and whispered:

“Good night, Carrots. See ya tomorrow.”

He silently walked out of Judy's room, and closed the door behind him.

In the dark, in her sleep, Judy smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fuck, ten chapters already.
> 
> Someone stop me.
> 
> Please.


	11. Chapter 11

Clawhauser couldn't decide... The blue one? Or the white one with the sprinkles? Or the pink one with chocolate stripes? So many choices. Then, he realized he could eat the blue one, then the white one, and then the pink one. He could have all of them! ...But in what order?

As Nick walked up to Clawhauser's desk, he noticed he was in deep thought, while staring at the box of donuts in front of him. But what really turned out to be interesting was how Clawhauser's face seemed to go with the flow of his thoughts: glaring like the donuts had insulted Gazelle, then lighting up like he had just found out salty donuts did exist and were called bagels, but then plunging back in the 'what-did-you-just-freaking-say-about-Gazelle-you-little-sugary-bitches' face. Nick chuckled, then cleared his throat. Clawhauser looked up from the box, and smiled from ear to ear.

“Nick! You're back!” he exclaimed.  
“Yep. Glad to see you ag **ECH**!!”  


His last word turned into a grunt of pain when the jolly cheetah reached over the desk, grabbed Nick by the shoulders, and pulled him into a tight hug, squealing all the way.

“I'm sooooo glad you're okay! I was so worried, and scared, and...”  
“Claw... hauser... please...” Nick grunted, struggling to breathe.  
“Oh! Yes, sorry.” he said, letting go.  


Nick took a few deep breaths, and rubbed his back.

“I appreciate the thought, but I didn't survive a train explosion only to choke to death from too much love.”  
“I know, I know, I'm sorry, I was just so worried!” Clawhauser said, quickly, still overwhelmed by relief, until he realized something was missing.

Something cute. With big ears.

“Nick?” he asked.  
“Yeah?” Nick asked, still panting.  
“Where's J--”

The precinct doors swung open, and a small gray blur zoomed straight up to them, almost crashing into the desk.  


“I'm here!” Judy said, gasping for air, paws on her knees. 

While she was used to morning jogs, morning record-breaking-sprints were not her thing.

“Holy fluff, Carrots, what are you in a hurry for?” Nick said with a laugh.  
“My... alarm... didn't... ring...” she said, between pants. “Thought... I'd... be... late...”  
“Well, technically, you are one minute late, Detective Hopps.”  


All three turned to the source of the deep, all too familiar voice.

“Clawhauser. Detectives.” Bogo greeted, walking up.  
“'Morning, Chief!” Clawhauser greeted back, then took a bite of a random donut.  
“Sir...” Judy said with a salute, still breathy-heavy.  
“'Sup, Chief.” Nick said, with a two finger salute and a smirk.

Bogo glared at Nick, who seemed unfazed.

“I take it you two are ready to get back to work?” he asked.  
“Yes sir!” Judy replied, having finally regained control of her breathing.  
“What she said.” Nick said, pointing at her with a thumb.  
“Excellent. Get to rollcall. I'll be right there.” Bogo said, turning to walk away.  


Nick nudged Judy.

“Don't forget we need to go see Bellwether.” he said, quietly.  
“Oh, yeah. Well, let's just hope we get assigned patrol.” she replied.  
“Or anything that isn't parking duty.” he joked.

 

Snoutson could not sit still in his chair in the last row of the bullpen room. He was constantly shifting, crossed one leg over the other, then switch after ten to twenty seconds, rubbing his face, then crossing his arms, then scratchinng his neck... LeLoup nudged him.

“Relax. We're the only ones to know.” she whispered. “And I'm pretty sure neither of us is gonna accidentally tell Bogo about it.”  
“I know, but... I can't help it. I feel like Bogo always knows everything!”  
“How could he know about this one?” she asked. “We were the only ones watching. Bogo has no possible way of knowing.”  
“Knowing what?” Delgato asked, who had inched closer without them noticing, as LeLoup and Snoutson jumped.

LeLoup quickly recovered, and grabbed the tiger by the collar.

“Why the fuck didn't you tell us they went out?!” she whisper-yelled, furious.  
“...What?” he replied, confused, raising his paws.  
“Hopps and Wilde came _back_ to the rabbit's place while we keeping watch, and you fucking smartass didn't tell us they went out!”  
“But... we didn't even see them the entire time!”  


Delgato tugged at Fangmeyer's sleeve, who turned.

“Did you see Hopps or Wilde at all, while we were watching the building?”

Fangmeyer blinked, then shook his head.

“No... why?”  
“'Cause apparently they got out, and LeLoup's saying it's our fault!”

The wolf tugged at the tiger's collar, who turned back to her with an 'ack'.

“It is, _nom de Dieu_!”  
“AtteeeenHUT!”

Bogo walked into the room as everyone in the room started banging their fists on the tables, with rhythmic “Hoo-ah”s. That was Nick's favorite part of every morning, and he was having a blast, while Judy was jumping on the table, stomping with all her tiny bunny weight.

“Enough!” Bogo boomed, and the room quieted down, as Judy hopped back down on her shared seat with Nick, who chuckled.

 _Cute_ , he mouthed.  
_Shush_ , she mouthed back.

Bogo cleared his throat.

“Detectives Hopps and Wilde are back with us, this morning.”

The two shared a smile.

“...Who gives a shit.”

Nick and Judy could have sworn they saw him wink.

“Assignments...” he began.

Bogo went through his morning routine of assigning his officers.

“...Detectives Hopps and Wilde, Savannah Central patrol duty.”

They turned to each other, thankful for their lucky star. They got off their chair and walked out, which left six mammals, each one varying degrees of nervous, sitting in the room.

“LeLoup, Snoutson, Delgato, Fangmeyer, Wolford, Howlitz.” he listed in a monotonous tone.

Snoutson started feeling really hot. Then Bogo's expression slightly softened.

“Gear inspection.”

They all lit up, then cheered. Weapon inspection was the most desired duty for any cop. They got to shoot all kinds of guns and test all kinds of cool gear that had yet to be actually used in duty.

“I understand that surveillance duty is boring. So I do hope this will make it up to you.” he said, with a rare smirk. “Dismissed.”

Snoutson was overwhelmed by relief. If Bogo knew, he'd have stuck him in parking duty for months. LeLoup passed an arm around his shoulders as they walked to the door.

“See, what'd I tell you. We're fine.”  
“...Yeah. Awesome...” he said, still shaking from relief.

Snoutson turned to look at Bogo, who was still standing at the desk, sorting out some papers. The buffalo looked up, and they made eye contact. Snoutson immediately scrambled out the door, startling LeLoup in the process. She came to a stop, and blinked. She turned to Bogo, who had raised an eyebrow. She shrugged with a nervous chuckle, and ran out as well, slamming the door behind her. Bogo blinked a few times. He wasn't sure just what he witnessed. He decided to shove it aside, and huffed.

 

Out in the hallway, Judy and Nick were walking towards the garage.

“Well, that was relatively painless.” Nick said.

Judy smiled.

They reached the garage, and got in their cruiser. Judy turned on the engine, then turned to Nick, and smiled.

“Come on, let's go pay an old friend a visit.” 

 

It was only when Judy pulled the cruiser into the Zootopian Central Penitentiary Complex visitors' parking lot that she realized she was nervous. Nick seemed to have noticed, because he put a paw on her shoulder.

“Carrots? Something wrong?”

She hesitated before answering.

“I'm just... a bit apprehensive. I don't know if I'm prepared for a meeting with someone who hates me.”  
“You'll be fine. You should do what I do. Hate her back just as much.”

She chuckled, then took a deep breath.

“Alright, let's do this.”  
“You got it, boss.”

They walked out of the car, and towards the prison. 

There were four guard towers at the corners of the square the high grating topped with barbwire formed around the large dark gray building. The windows were barred, and there were constantly guards patrolling the area.

“How the hell did she manage to escape this place...” Nick wondered aloud.

They walked towards the visitors' entrance, and walked up to the reception desk, behind which sat a bulky hyena.

“How can I help you?” she said, sounding almost charming.  
“Detectives Nick Wilde, and Judy Hopps, ZPD.” Nick said. “We would like to talk to Dawn Bellwether.”  
“Detectives, visiting hours begin in an hour. Please wait in the waiting room, down the hall to your left.” the hyena replied, without a hint of exasperation or boredom, which Nick had expected the administrative prison staff to be all about.  
“...Okay, thank you.” he said, and started walking down the hallway.

Judy looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow.

“Carrots, don't give me that look. You should know better than me that, especially in prison, rules are rules. No discussion.”  
“I knew that, but since when do you care about the rules?”  
“Since around the day the letters ZPD took me hostage.”

She laughed.

“Come on, Nick, being a cop is not as bad as you thought back then, is it?”

He smirked.

“Not exactly.”  
“There you go.” she said, lightly punching his arm.

Half an hour later, if it hadn't been as important as their lives on the line, they'd have already left. They played at least four tournaments of Rock, Paper, Scissors, to which they had both added their own rules (“What the hell is 'pit'?!” “Rock and scissors fall in pit.” “That's unfair!”) until visiting hours finally began. They stood up, headed back to the desk.

“Hi again.” Nick said, waving at the hyena, who smiled.  
“Bellwether, was it?”  
“Yes, please.”

The hyena typed on her keyboard for a few seconds, then looked back at Nick.

“Proceed to your right, please.”  
“Oh, so she is still alive.” Nick said, quietly, with a smirk.

There was a beep, and the door that read “Visits” clacked open. A rhino in guard uniform stepped through.

“In room three.” the hyena indicated.  
“Got it.” the rhino replied, then turned to Nick and Judy. “Follow me, please.”  
“Thanks.” Judy said.

They walked through the door, and the guard closed it behind them. They walked in silence down a long hallway, windowed steel doors on the right side that led to visiting rooms, each one for different sized mammals. They reached the one marked with a number three, which the guard slid open for them. There was a table and a few chairs.

“Please wait here.” he said.  
“Thank you.” Judy said with a nod.

When the guard had left, Nick took a seat, and sighed.

“Here it is, Carrots.”  
“Mhm-hmm.”

She was still very nervous.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the table buzzed, then slid open.  
Nick and Judy's eyes went wide. All they could say was:  


“Oh my god.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGERS 2: THE RETURN OF THE HANGING FROM THE CLIFF


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE 19 OF JULY: Reworked chapter one. Felt like it needed a tune-up. Had written it weeks before the second chapter. Fixed it up, should be less awkward to read now.

They could not believe what they were seeing.

The former Assistant Mayor, then Mayor of Zootopia, and criminal mastermind was standing behind the door, next to a tall bear guard.

Her face was bruised. She had two black eyes. Her wool was a cluster of poofy hairs going in every direction. Her prison uniform was wrinkled and torn at the collar. She was hanging her head.

Dawn Bellwether was a mess.

After the guard closed the heavy door with a loud metallic clack, he turned around, then put his paws behind his back.

The room went quiet. As the sheep slowly walked up to the chair, the only sounds were the clicking of her hooves against the cold prison floor, and the metallic rustling of the cuffs, tightly locking her wrists together. 

Not a single word.

She took her seat, and sat still. She hadn't looked at her visitors. Not even the slightest glance.

Judy and Nick just looked at each other. Neither one of them knew what to say.

“My wrists hurt.”

They both turned to Bellwether. She looked up. 

“The cuffs. They're too tight.” she said, her voice low, raspy and tired.

After a second to realize what she said, Judy looked up at the bear.

“Could you loosen her cuffs, please?” she said, softly.

The bear slowly nodded, his face fixed in a blank expression. He pulled out a set of keys, and knelt, as the sheep brought her wrists up. The bear shoved a tiny key in each cuff, then stood back up.

“Thanks.” Judy said, with a small smile.

The room went silent again. 

Nick cleared his throat.

“Bellwether?” he asked.

Silence. Nick turned to Judy, who gave her a desperate look.

“...We have a few questions for you.” he continued. “First of all...” 

He paused, and realized he had started taking pity on her. 

“...what happened to you?”

More silence. The large swaths of uncomfortable quietness were starting to weigh down on Judy's shoulders. Finally, Bellwether broke the heavy silence.

“Pushed around. Beaten. Lifted off my feet by the neck.” she said, and... softly laughed. “...Turns out some predators still don't like me.”

Nick felt bad, because he knew that, at one point, he had wished for that type of treatment upon her.

“...But...” she started.  
“...Yes?” Judy asked.  
“There's Felix Simeio... He's different.” she said, smiling tiredly.

Nick shifted closer, and leaned on the table.

“Tell us more about him. What kind of predator is he?”

She took a deep breath before answering. 

“...He's a cheetah. He's been the only one to show me genuine kindness ever since I got here. One day, a few days after I was locked up, as soon as I stepped outside for the outdoors recess... a group of predators walked up to me... surrounded me. Started threatening me. They were laughing. One of them pushed me. Another punched me. I fell to the ground. They started kicking me. Over. And over. Until guards arrived.”

Judy's ears drooped. Tears were welling up in the rabbit's eyes.

“A few days later, when I dared going outside again, the same group walked up to me. Like they were waiting for me. I tried to run, but all I did was run into a wall. I had cornered myself. They kept getting closer. But then... he came.”  
“...Felix?” Nick asked.  
“...Yes. He put himself between me and them, yelling for them to stop. He picked me up, and carried me through the group of brutes, and to the other side of the yard. When he put me down, he asked me if I was okay...” she chuckled. “...I told him I was feeling safe. He seemed happy. So I was too. I felt safe with him around from that moment on.”

Judy tried her best not to cry, but not from sadness.

“But... I didn't understand why. Why he would bother with me. I thought I was his enemy. I had made my goal to ruin predators' lives... yet he protected mine. I just could not understand. I spent the next night awake, thinking. Maybe he didn't know what I did. Maybe he knew. I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to understand.”  
“Did you ask him?” Nick asked.  
“...Yes, the day after. He had walked up to me during breakfast, and he sat down next to me. That's when I asked... and he told me he knew everything, and that he had forgiven me.”

She paused.

“I couldn't believe it. Someone, a predator, too, had accepted to forgive me for my horrible, unfair, hateful actions. 'Why?', I said. He told me he believed everyone could be a good person if they try. And that he would give me a second chance. I thought it was too late for second chances...” she gestured with her cuffs. “He said he'd be ready to help me in any way he could.”

Tears had started streaming down Judy's face.

“I asked him why he was thrown in here, where he clearly doesn't belong... told me he was framed. For his wife's murder. Life sentence. Four years ago. He swore to me that he was innocent. He was even still wearing his wedding ring... Managed to keep it before having his personal goods confiscated before he was locked up. He hides it from the guards, and puts it on, every night, when he goes to sleep.”

Nick looked up at the bear, who was still listening to the whole conversation. He brought a finger to his snout. The bear smiled a small smile, then mimicked a zipper across his mouth. Nick gave him a thumbs-up, with a smile.

“He is such a kind-hearted soul. He made me realize I was wrong all those years. All those years, I've feared predators. All those years, I've hated predators. All those years... I was wrong. So I made him a promise.”

Nick leaned in.

“What kind of promise?” he asked.

One more second of silence.

“...I promised him he'd be free. He's innocent. I know it. I promised him he would not endure any more punishment for a crime he didn't commit. I know someone who I thought could help me keep that promise.  
“...At the ZSC.” Judy said, softly.  
“So I escaped. I was caught. But I tried again. And they caught me again. I tried again. I failed again... Until eventually, I managed to slip out, and didn't get caught. I thought that was it. I thought I could finally repay Felix for his kindness. So I waited for everything to calm down. Waited in dark alleys, under bridges. For three days. But... who I thought would help me turned me down. Said he didn't want anything to do with me anymore. I begged. He called the police. I tried to run. But then you arrived. The ZPD.”

She lowered her head.

“...I failed again.”

She brought her hooves up, to gesture towards her face.

“This happened when I went outdoors again. Two brutes from the group. Except this time, Felix didn't come. They told me they had taken care of him. They had beaten him up while I was outside, trying to get him out. They hurt him because he protected me. I never dare to go outdoors anymore. I haven't seen Felix for days.”

She paused.

“That is what happened to me.”

The room fell into heavy silence again. Nick turned to Judy. She was about to cry from sadness again. He tapped her shoulder, and stood up, turning his back to Bellwether. Judy stood up as well, wiping her eyes. Nick crouched to bring his muzzle near her ears.

“Carrots, I seriously doubt she's got anything to do with us.” he whispered. “She seriously doesn't seem to hate us to the point of murder anymore.”  
“What makes you say that?” she replied, just as quietly, sniffling.  
“The fact that you're crying right now. If she did hate us, she wouldn't have told us anything of this entire story.”

Judy took a breath before nodding.

“So what do we do?”  
“I suggest we bring in her friend Felix. That'll confirm everything, plus it will comfort her.”  
“...Do you actually feel bad for her?” Judy asked, slightly incredulous.  
“Yes. Yes I do.” he replied.  
“Okay. Let's do that, then.”

Nick turned around, and looked at the guard.

“Could we ask you to bring in Felix Simeio, please?”

Bellwether's face seemed to light up. The bear remained silent for a second. Then he nodded. 

“Please wait here.”

He unlocked the door, then left after locking it behind him.

Ten minutes of agonizing silence aside from Judy's sniffling, and then blowing her nose in Nick's handkerchief after the sniffling had gotten close to driving him crazy.

Then the door clacked open. Bellwether whirled around. A cheetah in a sleeveless undershirt and prison inmate uniform pants walked into the room.

He threw himself to his knees, as Bellwether hopped off her chair. Felix passed his cuffed wrists over her head, and hugged her as best he could. The sheep started sobbing. Judy felt more tears welling up when she spotted the ring around one of his fingers.

After a few moments of reuniting, Felix passed his wrists back over Bellwether's head, and stood up.

“We are Detectives Nicholas Wilde and Judy Hopps, ZPD.”  
“Nice to finally meet you.” Felix replied.  
“Mister Simeio, Dawn has told us many good things about you.” Judy continued, smiling.  
“I'm glad to see you are both well.”

Bellwether looked at the two detectives.

“...What happened?” she asked.  
“Didn't you hear?” Felix said. “They were victims of an assassination attempt.”

Her eyes went wide.

“Really?”  
“Yes. A train explosion. But we're fine.” Nick said.

More silence. And it was getting on Nick's nerves.

“Bellwether, Felix..." he began. "We will now take our leave, I'm afraid we must get back to work.”  
“Thank you for your time, Detectives.” Felix said.  
“Thank you.” Bellwether added, with a smile.  
“We'll check up on you again soon.” Judy said, smiling. 

The guard walked over and unlocked the door on their side, and they started walking out, when Bellwether stopped them.

“Wait!” she said.

They stopped in their tracks, and turned to her.

She took a deep breath.

“ _Surgimus, ubi omnes insaniunt_.”

They looked at each other, then back at the sheep, who nodded. They nodded back, and started walking down the hallway with the guard, who unlocked the door, and let them walk out. 

“Good day.” he said with a small salute, then closed the door. 

They walked past and waved at the hyena, and out of the building.

“Nick...”  
“Yeah?”  
“What did she say?”  
“ _Surgimus_... something something.”  
“What does it mean?”  
“I'm not sure. I sure hope Jack knows.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LATIN, BEESH


	13. Chapter 13

When they had pulled the car out of the parking lot, Nick pulled out his phone, and the small card with Jack's contact information.

“I'm calling Jack.” he said.  
“Put it on speaker.” Judy said.

 

*booooop*

…

*booooop* 

*click*

“ _Meet me at your apartment_.”

*click*

 

Judy blinked. Nick turned to face her.

“Damn. He likes his phonecalls brief.” he said.  
“Did he say what I think I heard?”  
“Yeah.” Nick said, then perked up. “Hey, I thought you were the one that was all ears all the time!”

He snickered at his own pun, while Judy just glared.

“You're such an idiot. This is serious.”  
“Oh come on, I hardly ever joke about those newspaper sheets sized ears. You could at least laugh when I do.”  
“Niiick.”  
“Yes, he said at my apartment.” Nick said.  
“Don't you find it weird, though?” Judy asked.  
“Find what weird?”  
“That he seemed like he was just waiting for us to call him? And also that he asked to meet him at your apartment, of all places?”  
“He's a spy. Don't question it. These people are very good at predicting and scheduling. Mostly luck, if you ask me. But he knew we would go see Bellwether today, so he knew that I wouldn't be home. I'm also pretty certain he knew that we don't have many important enough reasons to contact him. So he probably was waiting for a call from us.”  
“Listen to yourself. Are you a cop, or a spy expert?”  
“It'ss not that hard to figure out.” he said with a sneer.  
“I didn't think of it from Jack's point of view.” she said, getting frustrated at being genuinely called dumb.  
“I'm surprised you were valedictorian if that wasn't obvious to you.”  
“Screw you.”  
“You wish.”

 

As they drove near Nick's building, Judy looked around. No sign of Jack.

“I don't see him anywhere.” she said.  
“He's probably inside already.” he replied.

He turned to her, and saw her raise an eyebrow.

“I told you already. He's a spy. He knows how to do this kind of thing.”

They walked up to Nick's apartment door. He unlocked it, and they walked in.

“Mister Savage?” he called.

…

No answer.

“You were saying, mister spy-expert?”  
“Don't you dare sassing me on this one, Whiskers!” he said, raising a scolding finger. “He said 'Meet me at your apartment', this is my apartment, and I don't think he would lie to us!”  
“Yeah, well how abou **whooaaAAHH**!”

Judy slipped on a piece of paper and fell to the ground with a thud. Nick remained stoic for a second. Then he exploded with laughter, as Judy stood up, livid. She was going to make him eat whatever she had just slipped on, and--

 _Wait._

'What she slipped on'? What _did_ she slip on...?

She bent down and inspected the piece of paper that had slightly crumpled beneath Judy's foot, while Nick was recovering from the cartoony nature of the scene that had just unfolded, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.

“Heheh... What is that, Carrots?” he said, still chuckling.

Judy didn't reply.

“...Carrots?”

She turned.

Nick's smile vanished in a fraction of a second.

“Nick, we're leaving.”

~~~~~

_You are in grave danger._

_I wish I didn't have to ask you to do this._

_Today, Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde have gone missing._

_Meet me at the Zootopia Central Station._

_-J. S._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of the first part in the series!
> 
> Sorry to have made this so short, but I felt like the story reached a point where you could close the book and open the next one.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this little ride, and I hope to see you in the next one!


End file.
